Out Of The Blue
by Eastendersfan444
Summary: Joey and Lauren are best they have never looked at each other .well not that they would admit it to the other if they Joey's soon to be married and Lauren is living with Will their feelings for each other come to light or will they remained buried forever? Will Joey get married and what will this do to his relationship with Lauren?
1. Chapter 1

*FLASHBACK*

Fifteen year old Lauren Branning groaned as the pain in her head kicked into full force at her slightest movement on the pillow. She cracked open an eye and the sunlight shining in through the curtains felt like it was blinding her, she frowned and put her arms over her eyes and then rolled onto her side. She groaned again and then froze as she felt someone move in the bed behind her. She held her breath and carefully and slowly rolled over and looked straight into the sleeping face of her best friend, 16 year old Joey Branning.

Yes. Joey Branning had the same surname as her but they weren't actually related. Well they were, but not by blood. Joey was adopted by her Uncle Derek and Aunt Rose when he was a 3 month old baby. So technically they weren't related at all.

Her mind began to race through last night, trying to find the moment that made her end up in bed with her best friend. She suddenly had a thought and she swallowed and peeked under the covers, and found that she was totally naked. She glanced over at her bed fellow and then, only when she was certain that he was fast asleep, she pulled up the covers and peeked at him, he was as equally naked as she was. She dropped the sheets and closed her eyes and covered her face with her hands.

'Oh my God! Oh my God! Oh my God!' she repeated over and over quietly as her brain chose that exact moment to replay the events that led up to this nakedness. She and Joey were bored of the family party that his parents had thrown, and her parents strict no drinking rule. So she and Joey had swiped a bottle of wine from the liquor cabinet and taken it into Joey's room.

They thought that no one had seen them, but Joey's dad, Derek had. He wasn't as strict as her parents and didn't see the harm in letting the kids drink as long as they were in a place that they couldn't get into trouble. So he said nothing, but when his brother Max and his wife Tanya wanted to leave, he said that he would go and find Lauren. He stood outside Joey's bedroom door and heard the two of them drunkenly giggling. So he had lied to Max and told him that Lauren and Joey were asleep and that they may as well let Lauren spend the night. Max and Tanya happily agreed, not wanting to hear Lauren complain about how lame and dull the party was or complain that she had to go to the zoo with her family like some little kid. What Derek didn't know was the reason behind the drunken giggling.

Joey was boasting to Lauren about his well-defined stomach muscles since he had been going to Uncle Jack's gym and he had taken off his shirt to show her his six pack, or what he thought was his six pack. Lauren had poked his stomach and told him it looked more like a one pack than a six pack and that she had a better six pack than Joey and she had pulled off her dress to show him. That's when the giggling had stopped and alcohol fuelled teenage hormones and curiosity had kicked in, and Joey and Lauren had somehow ended up kissing in a way that cousins really shouldn't kiss and then things had progressed onto the bed and she and Joey had lost their virginity to each other, another thing that cousins really shouldn't do.

She climbed out of bed and quickly dressed, surprised to find that she felt more than a little sore between her legs, no doubt from their antics last night. She crept to the bedroom door and opened it quietly and crept down the stairs.

'Morning angel' Derek said loudly as she walked into the kitchen

'Morning' she grimaced

'Here, there's a couple of aspirin and a glass of water on the table' he nodded to the space next to him. 'Is Joey moving?'

'Nope' she sat down and gratefully took the painkillers and then picked up the coffee that she set down in front of her. 'Mum and dad…'

'Were fine with you staying here last night. Means that you've missed the trip to the zoo though. Not sure those zoo smells would have helped with your hangover today. You're welcome to stay here until you feel a little better' he said to her

She smiled at him 'Thanks Uncle Derek' she told him 'Where's Auntie Rose and Alice?'

'Gone shopping for the day' he told her 'Spending all my money' he smiled

A few moments later, they heard loud footsteps on the stairs and Joey appeared in the doorway wearing a pair of sweat pants and a t-shirt.

'Lauren' Joey blinked at her 'What are you doing here?' he asked her

'Don't you remember son? You and Lauren snuck off to your room with a bottle of alcohol last night?' Derek asked his son

'Right yeah' he said and he looked at Lauren as he remembered what they had done.

Lauren licked her lips and drank some more coffee. 'I swear that I am never ever drinking again' she said with a frown. 'I have a full brass marching band playing and stomping in my head' she told them both

'Until the next time hey darling?' Derek teased her gently 'So what are you two up to today?'

Lauren looked at him 'Curling up on the sofa until you kick me out' she said with a hopeful smile

'You can stay as long as you want you know that' Derek told her with a smile 'Anyway I have to go to work, but Joey will be here to look after you won't you son?' he asked him

'What er… yeah sure' he nodded.

Lauren forced a smile onto her face 'Great. I'll be feeling sorry for myself on the sofa' she told them as she picked up her coffee cup and carried it into the lounge. Taking another sip she put it on the coffee table before lying down on the sofa and closing her eyes, as she slept she dreamt of feeling firm but soft lips against hers, soft gentle caresses on her naked skin, and Joey's face above hers.

*END OF FLASHBACK*

'Lauren Branning. I swear to god you space out deliberately so you can pretend that you have no clue what I'm talking about' Joey said as he nudged her sharply in the ribs.

'Ouch hey Joe! That hurt' she scowled at him and slapped him hard on the thigh. 'You're probably just droning on about Lucy's wedding arrangement demands again anyway' she told him rolling her eyes 'Like how she wants to you turn up to the church on a big white stallion' she teased him 'How she wants you to wear a pink suit and have her name tattooed on your arse'

'What's put you in such a bad mood?' Joey frowned at her concerned 'Is everything okay between you and Simon?' he asked her

'Yeah yeah they're fine' she nodded with a smile 'He's just not going to be able to make it back for the wedding, so I will have be dateless and Lucy's going to be pissed because it will screw her seating plan'

'Is he still away?' he frowned at her

'Yeah' she nodded

'That's how long now?' he asked her 'A month?'

'Nearly two' Lauren replied 'He needs to go where the work is. I get that'

'I don't know how you do it' he told her 'you haven't seen your boyfriend for 2 months'

'We talk all the time on the phone, text, Skype'

'Do you have sex that way too?'

'And he comes back on weekends' she said ignoring his last comment

'And how many weekends has he been back since he left? One wasn't?' he asked her 'No wonder you are so moody all the time. You're horny'

'Why does every conversation about me and Simon have to come back to sex?' she asked him with a frown 'Why are you so obsessed with my sex life?'

'Or lack thereof' he replied

'Sex isn't all a relationship is about Joey. There are actual feelings involved, emotional feelings' she added as he opened his mouth to make a crude comment 'Like love and friendship and commitment, something that you really don't seem to know much about' she told him and she got up and walked to the ladies room.

Joey sighed and he got up and went to the bar and got another round of drinks for them both. He had just sat back down when Lauren came back. 'I got you another drink' he said

'I've got to go' Lauren told him

'Oh no don't go, please' Joey said 'I'm bored. Keep me company'

'Why don't you go and find Lucy? Annoy her' she told him 'You remember Lucy right? Your fiancée? The girl you're marrying in three months time?'

'Please… I want to be with you. You are my best friend you have to stay and keep me company' he pleaded with her 'Please, please?' He gave her the look that he knew she couldn't resist, the puppy dog eyes the pouty bottom lip. Lauren rolled her eyes and sighed

'Okay fine. One more drink Joey and then I am going home' she told him

'Thank you' he said grinning at her, she took her seat again

'You are such an idiot Joey' she shook her head trying not to laugh as she picked up her drink.

'What are your plans for tonight?' he asked her 'I was thinking maybe dinner and a movie at my place? You can stay over again if you like?'

'I do have my own home Joey'

'Yeah but you're never there. You practical live at my place now' he told her

''Yes maybe I do, but that will all change when you come back from your honeymoon with your new wife in tow. I really doubt she's going to want me staying over all the time. So I am going to start staying at my own place' she told him

'Just because I'm getting married it doesn't mean that we'll change. I mean we'll still be us. You'll still be my best friend' he told her softly

'Everything will change Joey' Lauren told him with a sad smile 'You'll be doing things that married couples do, you won't have any time for me. You'll see'

Joey looked at her with a frown 'I'll always have time for you' he shook his head 'it's you and me against the world remember, we have matching scars' he said and he held out his wrist to show her the jagged scar that he got when he stuck his hand through a barbed wire fence because she had caught hers and she was crying. 'We were 10 remember?' he asked her

'I remember' she said with a smile 'You always looked out for me'

'And I always will' he told her 'I promised didn't I?'

'Yeah you did' she nodded and she reached across the table to trace the scar 'I still can't believe you did that' she said as she remember

'I had to do something to make you stop crying'

Lauren's mobile beeped and she pulled it out of her pocket. 'Oh its Lucy' Lauren said and she opened the text message 'Oh god another dress fitting tomorrow' she frowned 'Kill me now please'

'If you don't want to be bridesmaid why did you agree to it?'

'Its not really like I had a choice. She only asked me because I'm your best friend and she vetoed your idea of me being the best man, in favour of her brother Peter. After you protested that I was an important person in your life she had no choice but to add me to the bridesmaid pool. You and I both know that she would rather have anyone but me in her wedding party'

'Luce likes you'

'Lucy tolerates me there's a difference' Lauren replied

'Lucy tolerates me too so that's something else that we have in common' Joey told her with a grin. Lauren rolled her eyes at him

'Yeah well you're the one that's chosen to marry her' Lauren told him 'rather you than me' she said as she picked up her drink and drank half of it down.

'I'm not the one in a sexless relationship' Joey frowned at her suddenly annoyed with her for reasons Lauren didn't know.

'Well on that note I am going to go' she told him 'Enjoy your evening' she got up and grabbed her bag and her coat,

'I'll see you in about half an hour then' he called after her as he watched her walk out of the pub. He sighed, picking up his pint and taking a mouthful. He really didn't understand what Lauren saw in Simon. He was never here, Never around when she needed him. He didn't like Simon. He would never say as much to Lauren's face but there was just something about the guy that he couldn't quite put his finger on. He didn't like him, he didn't trust him. And he certainly wasn't good enough for Lauren. Not that any of Lauren's boyfriends had been good enough for her, not in his opinion anyway. She and Simon had been together for 3 years. Lived together for the last one…when he was actually in Walford which wasn't much of the time lately. Joey frowned. He really didn't like Simon. Joey decided that he was going to go home.

Lauren let herself into her empty flat and she sank down on to the sofa with a sofa. She had no idea why Joey had got snappish with her. She sighed and got up and walked to the kitchen and peered into the fridge. It was almost empty and the food she had in there were growing some form of mould. Opening her cupboard she saw a box of cereal and a mouldy half loaf of bread. She frowned as her stomach rumbled. Sometimes she hated that Joey knew her so well.

She hated it a lot.

**AN: So this is my new story. Let me know what you think you all know how….. **

**Do you want me to continue? **

**As always R&R **


	2. Chapter 2

Joey was in the kitchen when he heard the front door open and close. He grinned and poured a second glass of wine and turned back to the takeaway bags on the side. He heard footsteps into the kitchen and then a chair being dragged out, then the glass being picked up.

'What are we having?' Lauren asked him

'Chinese' Joey said and he turned to look at her 'You changed your mind'

'I have no food that isn't green or blue' she told him with a frown 'and a box of cereal that may be about 6 months old and stale'

'You know you are always welcome here' he told her

Lauren nodded and sighed 'for another 3 months at least' she replied.

Joey frowned and he looked at her 'You don't like Lucy do you'

'Not really' Lauren said to him 'No' she shook her head

'Why?' he asked her

'She's just not the type of girl that I would be friends with that's all' she told him 'we have nothing in common'

'Yes you do' Joey frowned as she turned to look at her and he put a plate of food down in front of her and then handed her some chopsticks 'me' he said

'And that's all' she replied, she shrugged her coat off and she looked at her plate 'you got all my favourites'

'Of course, don't I always?' he asked her 'They also happen to be my favourites too' he said as he sat down. They ate their food, discussing the movies that Joey had brought for them to watch. After they had eaten, they walked through to the lounge and sat down side by side on the sofa. Lauren had picked up the pile of DVD's and was looking through them to find one she wanted to see, and she settled for "Mama"

'This one' she said with a sly grin, knowing that Joey didn't like supernatural horror movies. He liked blood and gore horror movies better, and granted she did too, but Joey got freaked out by supernatural horror movies and she wanted him to suffer a little after the comments he made earlier about her sex life, or lack thereof as he so kindly pointed out to her.

'I knew that you were going to pick that one' he frowned at her 'you know I don't like movies like that'

'Well then you really shouldn't have brought it then should you?' she asked him as she got up to put it into the DVD player, she sat back down and was about to press play when the doorbell rang.

'Saved the bell' Joey grinned as he got up

'Saved? No. A short reprieve? Yes' Lauren grinned back. 'Is there more wine?' she asked him as she followed him out of the room

'Kitchen' he called over his shoulder as he opened the door 'Lucy. Hi' he said. Lauren hid in the kitchen just behind the door so she could hear the conversation 'I didn't know we had plans tonight?'

'We don't' she said 'I just wanted you to pass a message onto Lauren. I did text her earlier but she didn't bother to reply, which frankly I find a little rude' she told him, Lauren stuck her middle finger up not caring that Lucy couldn't see it, the gesture itself made her feel better 'You need to tell her that the dress fitting is at 11:30am tomorrow sharp and that she needs to be there on time.'

'Yeah I'll tell her' Joey replied

Lauren hated the tone of voice that Lucy used when she was talking to Joey. It was as though she thought she was better than him, barking orders at him, never any "please" or "thank you's". Never any "hello" or "hi" she seemed to have skipped the lessons on pleasantries and manners at her ridiculously expensive private school. In fact if she was truthful Lauren hated Lucy full stop. Hated with a passion. She was nowhere near good enough for Joey. And she couldn't see what it was that Joey saw in her. Sure she was pretty. She wasn't a stunner, she wasn't curvy either, not like the other girlfriends that Joey had, the only thing that she had in common with his exes was that she was a blonde. Other than that, the similarities ended. Lauren hadn't really liked any of Joey's exes, except for Claire. Claire was on the same wavelength as Lauren and the two of them had become firm friends. When Joey cheated on Claire with Lucy, of all people, Lauren had lost her temper with Joey and they had a blazing row. Lauren had refused to talk to him for a week. Her and Claire were still good friends though, much to Joey's dismay and they regularly talked and text each other on the phone and met up for drinks and girly nights out.

'And you have a suit fitting at 2:00pm on Saturday with Ben'

'Okay fine' Joey replied nodding his head

'Do not forget' she told him sternly

'I won't' Joey said 'Are we still on for dinner tomorrow night?'

'Yes of course we are' Lucy said 'I'm looking forward to it. I have some houses for you to look at' she smiled at him

'What's wrong with this house?' Joey asked her 'I thought we were planning on living here'

'We'll discuss it further over dinner tomorrow. I must dash, Poppy is waiting for me, we're going to a flower arranging class' she told him and she kissed him on the cheek before walking away.

Joey shut the door and he sighed.

'I don't get it Joey' Lauren said as she walked out of the kitchen holding the half-drunk bottle of wine and a full one.

'Don't start Lauren' he said shaking his head

'What? I'm not' she said topping up his glass of wine before handing it to him 'I'm not starting anything' she said shaking her head, she added more wine to her glass and she sat down next to him, leaning on him slightly 'It's just… you act differently with Lucy than you did with all your other girlfriends that's all' she told him softly

'No I don't' he frowned

'If I didn't know better, I wouldn't know that you two were in a relationship let alone getting married' she told him

'Lucy doesn't like public displays of affection' he stated with a shrug of his shoulders

'Looking at Lucy it doesn't look as though she'd be into private displays of affection' Lauren shot back 'Do you actually sleep her?' she asked curiously

'You get grumpy and defensive when I talk about your sex life but now suddenly you're allowed to talk about mine?' he asked her raising his glass to his lips. 'At least I have a sex life, which is more than I can say for you' he scoffed

Lauren blinked, stung by his comment.

'Fair point' she said and she shifted on the sofa, so they weren't touching anymore, leaning against the arm of the sofa she pulled her legs onto the sofa and pressed play on the remote.

Joey knew that his comment had struck a nerve with Lauren by the way she had distanced herself from him on the sofa. He wondered if her relationship with Simon was as great as she made it out to be.

'You know you can talk to me about anything' Joey said to her after a moment

'Except things you don't want to talk about' Lauren replied and she took a mouthful of wine.

Joey knew better than to try to push her to talk when she didn't want to so he changed tactics 'I'm here whenever you need to Lauren' he told her, she glanced at him and nodded

'Yeah I know' she said softly with a sigh 'you know I'm not really in the mood to watch movies tonight. I'm tired' she put her glass of wine down and put the remote on the sofa between them. She got up and walked into the kitchen and she pulled on her coat and felt in her pocket for the keys to her flat and then walked to the front door. 'I'll see you later' she called as she opened the door.

'Lauren?' Joey asked from the doorway 'you know you can stay?'

'I need to go home Joey' she told him shaking her head, she stepped out of the house and closed the door behind her.

Joey frowned, he knew that something was off with Lauren, she was being different with him and he didn't know why, but he was going to find out.

**AN: Is Lauren's relationship with Simon as good as she claims it to be? Is Joey and Lucy's relationship normal and healthy or is there more to it than meets the eye?**

**Thank you for all your reviews so far **

**Hope you continue to enjoy. **

**As always R&R**


	3. Chapter 3

Lauren looked at herself in the yellow frilly bridesmaid dress that Lucy had chosen for her. It was absolutely hideous. The yellow did nothing for her complexion. She was pale, with dark hair and brown eyes and the yellow made her looked washed out, sick even. She didn't want to leave the changing room. Lucy's theme for the wedding was "Summer". Lauren hated to think what colour suit Joey would be wearing, she hoped that it was equally as hideous as her dress and that he would call the wedding off, she grinned as she thought about the look on Lucy's face if that happened. And then she frowned as she realised how happy that idea made her.

'Lauren we're waiting!' Lucy's shrill annoying voice cut through her musings.

With a resigned sigh, Lauren shot another look at her hideous yellow reflection in the mirror and then she turned and opened the curtain, she stepped out and watched as Lucy tried to hide the amused expression on her face. Lauren looked at Poppy and Whitney and saw that they were wearing green dresses, not a bright hideous green, but a nice subtle attractive shade of green. A shade of green that would look great on her. She saw Poppy's and Whitney's eyes widen as they saw her dress.

'Oh! Don't you look ….adorable' Poppy said biting back a smile

'Why is my dress different?' Lauren asked Lucy

'Because it's the theme, Yellow and greens of Summer' Lucy replied

'Yeah well I'm not wearing this so' Lauren said and she walked back into the dressing room, pulling the curtain closed behind her, she removed the dress and left it in a heap on the floor and pulled on her clothes and opened the curtain again

'You have to wear it' Lucy protested

'No actually I don't' Lauren said to her shaking her head

'But I've changed everything to include you in the wedding party'

'Well then you'll just have to un-change it won't you' Lauren replied as she tucked her bag over her shoulder and marched out of the bridal shop.

She walked back towards her car and she climbed in, she was about to start the engine as her mobile rang, pulling it out of her bag she saw it was Simon calling her, she smiled and she answered it,

'Hi' she said 'I am so glad that you called. You will never guess what Lucy has done now….' she started to say

'Hey honey I'm sorry I haven't got long' he cut her off 'I'm just heading into a meeting' he told her 'I just wanted to tell you that I am not going to be able to get away this weekend'

'Are you being serious?' she asked him, the disappointment evident in her voice 'I haven't seen you in over three weeks…'

'I know hun, I'm sorry' he said 'I'm gutted to. I promise that I will make it up to you next weekend for sure'

'Yeah you know what. You said that last weekend, and the weekend before, it's getting kind of old Simon' she sighed 'I have to go' she said and she hung up. She leant her head back against the seat of the car and she closed her eyes against the tears she felt pricking the back of her eyes. She heard someone knock on her window, she jumped and opened her eyes to see Lucy standing there. Lauren started her car and she drove off without talking to her.

Later that night, Joey and Lucy were at her favourite restaurant. Joey didn't really like this place, he had booked a table at Scarlett's. But when he picked Lucy up she informed him that she had cancelled the reservation and made one at Liberty. So that's where they were now. Joey thought the place was over-priced and pretentious. He preferred Scarlett's. It was his favourite restaurant, and Lauren's. He smiled as he thought about his best friend, he had text her earlier before he left to pick up Lucy but she hadn't replied. Lucy excused herself to go powder her nose and Joey pulled his phone out of his jacket pocket and he looked to see if she had replied, but he had no new messages. He sent another one quickly before Lucy came back and pushed his phone back into his pocket.

Lauren's phone beeped again, she glanced at it and saw another text from Joey, no doubt Lucy had already told him about her "tantrum" in the bridal shop and he was annoyed with her, she decided not to read it.

Lucy sat down at the table again, draping the napkin over her lap, she picked her up orange juice to take a sip

'So how did the dress fittings go?'

'Haven't you spoken to Lauren?' Lucy asked him

'No' he shook his head 'I'll probably see her later though' he told her, he narrowed his eyes at Lucy 'Why?'

'No reason. We just had a misunderstanding about the dress is all' Lucy said to him 'I'm sure everything will be fine'

'The bridesmaid dress?' he asked her and she nodded taking a sip of her drink 'what kind of misunderstanding?'

'She didn't like the colour' Lucy said to him 'She threw a tantrum in the middle of the bridal shop like a child and stormed out. You have no idea how embarrassing that was' Lucy said to him 'when I followed her outside to talk to her she got in her car and drove off' Lucy said 'I don't think she likes me Joey. I have been trying really hard because she is your best friend and she is important to you but she's just being impossible. She said that wouldn't be a bridesmaid anymore'

Joey frowned at her 'Look I'll talk to her okay? And she does like you' he lied 'she's just got a lot on her plate at the minute that's all. Simon's not going to be able to come back for the wedding and she's a bit upset about it'

'Oh, I didn't know that. Lauren didn't say anything' she shook her head 'I hope everything is okay between the two of them'

'I'm sure it is' Joey said, although he was wondering that himself.

Lucy put her glass down, deciding that dinner was over 'Well thank you for dinner' she told him with him a smile, dabbing her mouth delicately with the napkin and putting it down on her plate.

Joey nodded 'You're welcome' he smiled at her as he caught the waiter's attention 'Cheque please' he said

'So do you want to come back to my place tonight?' Lucy asked him with a coy smile

Joey looked at her 'I can't. I have things to do. I'm sorry' he told her 'But we're still on for this weekend?'

'Absolutely' she smiled back at him.

They left the restaurant and Joey opened his car door for her and she got it, he reached for her seatbelt and handed it to her and she smiled and took it and buckled it. He closed the door, walked round to the driver's side and he got in. He wondered why he told Lucy that he had plans when she was clearly offering him sex, he didn't have plans but he was worried about Lauren, he wanted to make sure that she was okay. Joey dropped Lucy off and they leant towards each other to kiss. He tried to deepen the kiss but Lucy pulled away from him with a smile.

'Joey, people could see' she said as she looked around

'So?' Joey asked her 'We are getting married' he leant forward again. Lucy let him kiss her for a second and then she pulled away again

'You know how I feel about public displays of affection' she pushed him away. 'I'll see you Saturday night' she said as she got out of the car 'I have a surprise for you'

'What kind of surprise?' he asked her

'You'll have to wait and see baby' she said trying to sound seductive but missing it by a mile.

'Can't wait' Joey replied 'Bye'

She closed the car door and darted into her house.

Joey sighed and he drove to his house and parked the car and then headed over to Lauren's. He pressed the door buzzer and he heard Lauren fumbling with it and the door release button. He made his way up the stairs and knocked on her door.

'It's open' he heard her call out, he went inside and Lauren looked at him from sofa

'Joseph!' she exclaimed and she grinned at him and waved her hands in the air. In one of her hands was a half drunk bottle of vodka.

'You're drunk' he said

'Oh two points for the stuffy sober man' Lauren giggled 'how was dinner with Miss Prissy Knickers?'

'Let's make you some coffee' Joey said with a sigh

'Noooooooooo! I don't want coffee. You come and help me drink the vodka' she said to him, she struggled to get off the sofa, but when she did she staggered over to him and handed him the bottle 'you look like you could use it' she said with a giggle we could get drunk together… please?' she tilted her head to one side 'go on…. You know you want to' she said. Joey rolled his eyes and he took a long drink from the bottle 'Yay!' Lauren clapped her hands

'You are a bad influence do you know that Lauren Branning?' he asked her

'I may be a bad influence but you still love me' she grinned at him as she grabbed his arm and dragged him to the sofa

'Yeah' Joey nodded 'I do' he told her as he let himself be pulled down next to her.

**AN: So Lauren's drunk. Is this because she isn't going to be seeing Simon again? Or is because of something else? **

**Lucy and Joey's relationship… Does this seem right to you? Joey's a very good looking man… why does it seem as though she can't bare him to touch her? **

**What do you think is going to happen between Lauren and Joey? Will they both get drunk? What will happen then? **

**R&R as always **

**Back later. **


	4. Chapter 4

When Lauren woke up the next morning she found she was in bed. She flung the covers off her and found she was in her underwear. She got out of the bed and padded to the bathroom and found some painkillers in the cabinet and she took them with some water. She used the toilet and she washed her hands and splashed some water on her face. She walked through to the kitchen to make some coffee. She stopped when she saw Joey there, wearing a pair of black boxer shorts.

'Joey?' she said 'What are you doing here?' she asked him. He turned around to look at her as he drank some coffee.

'Morning. How do you feel?' he asked her

'Like I died and came back to life' she replied

'That'll be the vodka' he told her 'I made you a coffee' he said holding out a cup to her.

She frowned 'I should put some clothes on' she looked down at herself

'If you like, I mean it wasn't like you stripped for me or gave me a lap dance last night' Joey said

Lauren's eyes widened 'I did what?' she asked him

'It was pretty amazing' Joey told her 'so was the blow job that you gave me. You could really teach Dyson a thing or two' her eyes fell to his groin as she tried to remember, she heard him chuckle and she raised her eyes to his, a faint blush on her cheeks

Lauren glared at him as she realised he was teasing her 'You're an ass Joseph' she snatched the coffee out of his hand and took it into the bedroom. Setting the cup down on the bedside table she took off her bra and slipped off her knickers and she reached for her robe just as Joey came into the room

'Lauren I'm sorry I couldn't resist teasing you…' he trailed off as he sucked in his breath seeing his best friend naked. Lauren looked up and froze. Joey's eyes scanned over her, his eyes travelling from her naked legs up to her Brazilian waxed strip of pubic hair, her tight taught stomach, to her full rounded breasts, before his eyes met hers, he felt his groin responding to what he was seeing.

'Do you mind?' she asked him, placing her hands on her hips glaring at him angrily.

'Sorry' Joey said forcing himself to turn his back on her. She pulled on her robe. 'It's not like I haven't seen you naked before' he told her

'We were 10' Lauren said to him 'I looked a little different then' she replied, she picked up her cup

'You certainly did' Joey said as he saw her walk passed him 'but I wasn't talking about then, I've seen you naked since then' he said to her 'three times if I remember correctly. When you were 15 and 18 and again on my 21st birthday'

'And I thought that we agreed not to talk about those' Lauren said to him as he followed her to the kitchen

'I know we did' he said with a sigh 'Doesn't mean that sometimes I don't think about them though' he said softly.

'So do you want breakfast?' Lauren asked him 'I went shopping yesterday and actually have food that's edible' she tried to change the subject.

'Why can't we talk about them?' he asked her

'Because we agreed not to' Lauren told him 'we were both drunk so ….' She trailed off 'I can make you a bacon roll?'

'Please' he said, he went into the lounge and sat down on the sofa and flicked on the TV to watch the news.

As he watched he thought about her naked body and his body's reaction to it, as he thought he felt his cock growing hard. He put the coffee down and he went into the bedroom and he pulled on his clothes. He came back and sat down again. Lauren brought the rolls through and sat down, her mobile rang on the table and she ignored it.

'Aren't you going to answer that?' he asked her

'Nope' she said

Joey picked it up and held it out to her 'It's Simon'

Lauren took the phone from him and flicked her thumb across the screen, rejecting the call.

'You don't want to talk to him?'

'Nope' she replied again 'So how was dinner with Prissy Knickers?' she asked him

'I've asked you not to call her that'

'And yet' she replied

'Dinner was fine' he rolled his eyes 'She told me that you told her you weren't going to be a bridesmaid anymore'

'She chose a yellow dress Joey' Lauren said with a frown 'Yellow. Can you see me in yellow?'

'Yellow?' he frowned at her 'I thought the bridesmaids were in green?'

'Poppy and Whitney yes. Me no. I get sunlight yellow' she told him 'It makes me look sick' she told him 'I am not wearing yellow'

'I'll talk to Lucy'

I don't want you to talk to Lucy' Lauren frowned at him 'I'll just be a regular guest' she shrugged as her phone rang again. Joey looked to see who it was, it was Simon again.

'He seems pretty keen to talk to you'

'Yeah well I don't want to talk to him' she replied

'Why?'

'He's not coming home this weekend' she replied

'Why not?'

'He didn't say' Lauren took a bite out of her roll

'Why don't you I do something this weekend hey?'

'Don't you and Lucy have a dirty weekend planned?' she asked him

'We can do that anytime. I'm worried about you' he said

'Nothing to be worried about' Lauren said shrugging 'I'm fine'

Joey sighed and he picked up her phone and he answered it 'Hi Simon its Joey. Lauren's in the shower' he lied

'Is she okay?' he asked her 'She seemed a little upset when I called her yesterday. Something about Lucy?'

'Yeah she's fine' Joey told him 'She told me that you're not coming home this weekend'

'I have a conference that came up last minute' Simon explained to Joey 'I feel really bad'

'Why? Because you haven't been back for over two months or because you keep letting her down?' Joey asked him

'I appreciate that you and Lauren and best friends and that you are upset with me…but our relationship is none of your business.' Simon said a little annoyed with Joey.

'She deserves better than this' Joey told him 'better than you'

'Can you just tell her that I called and that I'm sorry?' Simon asked him

'I'll tell her that you called but you can explain why you can't make this weekend and apologise for yourself' Joey told him. Joey looked at Lauren, she was biting her bottom lip, he held the phone out to her and she shook her head and he pressed it back to his ear 'And thank you for letting me know that you won't be able to make the wedding, appreciate the heads up' Joey said and he ended the call and he put the phone on the table. He looked at Lauren 'That guy is such a dick! I don't understand why you are still with him'

'We're not talking about my relationship with Simon' Lauren told him

'What relationship?' he asked her 'You haven't seen him for two months' he replied 'You could do so much better than him'

'Can I?' she asked him

'Yes' he nodded 'You are beautiful, funny, sexy, and successful. You could have the pick of any guy that you wanted' he told her

Lauren shook her head 'That's not true. It's sweet, but not true' she told him shaking her head. He put his plate down and he took hers away from her and turned to face her

'Why are you with him Lauren?' Joey asked her 'I mean really?'

Lauren licked her lips 'Why are you with Lucy?' she turned his question around to him

Joey blinked at her and he took a deep breath 'I love her' he replied.

Lauren nodded and she looked down 'I love Simon' she said to him

'I don't think he loves you' he replied 'I mean he's not here. He doesn't seem to want to be here'

Lauren's eyes shot up to meet his 'Why would you say that?' she asked him, his words mirroring exactly what she was thinking as two tears rolled down her cheeks. 'I think you should go' she told him with a frown and she got up and walked into the bedroom and she shut the door behind her.

Joey closed his eyes 'Nice Joey! Well done!' he said to himself. He got up and glanced towards the bedroom door, hesitating, wondering if he should go in after her, scared about what could happen if he did, he shook his head and walked out of the flat.

**AN: Lauren obviously remembers what has happened between her and Joey over the years but why is she so adamant that it isn't discussed? Lauren's reaction to Joey catching her naked seemed pretty confident don't you think? **

**It's clear that Joey doesn't like Simon. Is it just because he keeps hurting Lauren or is there another reason? **

**And Joey offering to turn down a weekend away with his fiancée? What's that about?**

**Thank you for all your reviews, I love reading them**

**As always R&R **

**Laters….**


	5. Chapter 5

Lauren seemingly disappeared off the face of the earth since Joey had put his foot in his mouth. She wouldn't return his calls, or texts and if she was at her flat she wasn't answering the door to him either.

Tuesday lunchtime Joey and Lucy walked into the Vic. Joey looked around for a table while Lucy ordered food and drinks at the bar. He saw Lauren sitting with his father. He didn't know that his parents were back from their holiday yet, he walked over to them.

'Hey' he said, Lauren glanced up at him and then lowered her gaze.

'Hey son. Everything okay?' Derek asked him as he stood up and hugged Joey tightly.

'Yeah' he nodded 'When did you get back dad?' he asked him as he pulled out a chair and sat down.

'Last night' he told him 'your mother's at home unpacking and sorting through the gifts we brought back for you both' he looked at Lauren and then at Joey 'actually we were hoping that you would come to dinner tonight. Max and Tanya are coming' he told them both

'Yeah I'll be there' Joey said 'I've missed mum's cooking' he told him with a smile 'Did you have a nice trip?'

'It was amazing. We had a great time, so much so that your mother and I are thinking about retiring to the Bahama's' Derek told them both 'which means that you both have to visit us and often'

Lauren put her fork down and she took a sip of her coke as Lucy came over 'Well I'd better go' Lauren told them as she kissed Derek on the cheek 'thank you for lunch' she said

'You're welcome honey' he said to her with a smile 'we will see you tonight?'

'I'll try and make it. I have the books to do for the club and the salon' Lauren told him 'and a meeting with the accountant at 4:30pm, so I could be late' she told him

'Well I'll tell you what we'll eat at 8:00pm' he said to her

'Thanks Uncle Derek' Lauren smiled at him, he noticed that the smile didn't reach her eyes.

'Hi Lauren' Lucy said 'Listen can I talk to you about the wedding'

'Nothing to talk about Lucy' Lauren said 'I won't be coming' she told her as she picked up her bag and coat and walked out of the Vic.

Joey frowned and he followed her, grabbing her arm once he was outside 'What do you mean you won't be coming to the wedding?' he asked her

'Just that' she said 'Joey I've got to go. I'm going to be late' she tried to pull her arm out of his

'Where did you go this weekend, I've been calling you, texting' he said to her 'I was worried'

'I went to see Simon' she said to him 'I'm sorry Joey but my world doesn't revolve around you' she frowned at him 'And I'm not going to the wedding because I think that you are making a mistake in marrying Lucy and I don't want to be there to watch it' she said to him

Joey let her go and she turned and walked away from him.

Lauren let herself into the flat and she locked the door behind her and she walked into the bedroom and crawled onto the bed. She let the tears that she was holding fall and she sobbed into her pillow.

After lunch Joey went home and he sat down on the sofa and he turned on the TV. He felt bad for what he had said to Lauren a few days ago and he knew that he needed to apologise. He hated that they weren't talking, that she was being distant with him. He also hated the thought of her not being at his wedding.

She was his best friend. They had shared a lot together, they had lost their virginity together when she was 15 and he was 16, in his bedroom at his parent's house, whilst their parents were enjoying the party downstairs.

*FLASHBACK*

They'd had a bottle of wine between them and things between them had got giggly and silly and he had been bragging about his six pack and she laughed at him, he remembered how that hurt his feelings and that he was upset with her, and then she pulled her dress over her head and showed him her stomach, he remembered that it was firm and taut. Then he had noticed that she was standing there in her underwear, a white lacy bra and knickers. He wasn't sure who made the first move, but the next moment they were kissing, really kissing, with tongues!

She had pressed herself up against him and he felt his body reacting to hers, to her. She was sexy even at 15. She was slim and toned and she had curves in all the right places, his hands had wandered all over them and she seemed to like it when he touched her.

She had undone his jeans and pulled them off and they moved to the bed, Joey didn't know what he was doing, but judging from the small breathy sighs and moans coming from Lauren, whatever he was doing she was enjoying it, she moaned again as his tongue slid into her mouth and she ran her hands over his back down to his bum and she squeezed gently.

Joey kissed her throat and neck smiling when he found a particular sensitive spot just beneath her ear, every time he kissed it or his lips brushed over she gave a tiny moan that sent exquisite sensations all through his body that seems to culminate in his groin.

He didn't remember how the rest of their clothes were removed, he just remembered being naked and on top of her and then next thing he knew was pressing his rock hard cock between her legs and pushing forward.

She gasped in pain and buried her face against his neck as he buried himself inside her for the first time, he knew that he had hurt her and he froze not certain what to do next.

'S…sorry' he whispered softly, he felt Lauren's lips brush against his throat as she replied to him

'Its okay'

'I'll stop..' he told her and he started to withdraw, when he was almost out to the tip, he felt her hands slid down to his bum and she squeezed, he automatically pressed forward again until he was once more buried inside her.

'Again' Lauren murmured in encouragement, not that he needed much, this felt so much better than all the times he had pleasured himself, he repeated his earlier action and she gave a small breathy moan.

Long moments later, Lauren clutched his back tightly 'Jo..Joey' she gasped sounding a little bit afraid and a little bit surprised at the same time 'OH! OH! Joey!' she exclaimed loudly, he kissed her then, swallowing her cries as he brought her to her first ever orgasm, he felt her clenching and rippling around him, combined with that and her fingernails digging into his back he felt himself spiralling forward into his orgasm, he broke the kiss and buried his face in the crook of her neck,

'OH MY GOD LAUREN!' he words were muffled against her throat as he emptied himself inside her.

They were both breathing heavily and covered in a light sheen of sweat, he raised his head to look down at her, her cheeks were flushed, her lips swollen from his kisses, her eyes wide bright and shining, she looked a little surprised and a little confused. But Joey thought she looked beautiful. He bent his head and he kissed her softly, a kiss that she eagerly responded to. He withdrew his wilting member from her, worried about crushing her with his weight and he rolled onto his side. She sighed and she moved into his arms resting her head on his chest and she closed her eyes, moments later they were both asleep.

When Joey woke the next morning and he smiled as he stretched and he remembered what had happened between him and Lauren. This would definitely change things between them. He smiled again. Maybe Lauren would be his girlfriend. Hopefully they could do more of what they did last night. His grin widened at the thought.

He got up and he pulled on a pair of sweatpants and a t-shirt, he used the bathroom and made his way down the stairs and into the kitchen where he could hear Lauren and his father talking. HW suddenly felt a little self-conscious, he didn't want his father to know that something had happened between him and Lauren so he decided that he would pretend that he was surprised that she was still there, he and Lauren would obviously talk later when they were alone.

'Lauren' Joey blinked at her 'What are you doing here?' he asked her

'Don't you remember son? You and Lauren snuck off to your room with a bottle of alcohol last night?' Derek asked him with a smile.

'Right yeah' he said and he looked at Lauren as he remembered again what they had done the night before, he wanted her to look at him so that he could try and see what she was thinking, but she avoided his gaze.

Lauren licked her lips and drank some more coffee. 'I swear that I am never ever drinking again' she said with a frown. 'I have a full brass marching band playing and stomping in my head' she told them both and she looked at his father.

'Until the next time hey darling?' Derek had teased her gently 'So what are you two up to today?'

'Curling up on the sofa until you kick me out' she said with a hopeful smile

'You can stay as long as you want to, you know that' Derek told her with a smile 'Anyway I have to go to work, but Joey will be here to look after you won't you son?' he asked him

'What er… yeah sure' he nodded and he watched as Lauren got up with her coffee and she walked out of the kitchen.

After Derek had gone Joey went into the lounge and Lauren was asleep on the sofa, he sat on the coffee table in front of her, he reached out and with his fingers he gently brushed her hair away from her face, tucking it behind her ear.

Joey definitely had feelings for her, but he didn't know if she had feelings for him. He guessed he would have to wait until she woke up and hope that when she did that the house was still empty so that they could talk and so that he could find out the answer.

He didn't have to wait long for either. Lauren woke up fifteen minutes later and she sat up.

'How are you feeling?' he asked her softly from his father's leather chair

Lauren blinked at him and she sighed 'Better than I did when I woke up this morning' she admitted to him 'I get why mum and dad don't want me to drink' she said 'I can't remember anything after we went up to your room' she lied

'You…you don't?' he asked her as his hopes shattered, she shook her head

'Nope. Nothing' she told him shaking her head 'I woke up and my head was pounding and I came down stairs and your dad gave me some painkillers' Lauren looked at him 'How do you feel?' she asked him

Joey licked his lips and he cleared his throat 'I don't remember either' he said 'Whatever it was it can't have been that memorable' he said with a forced laugh

'Right' Lauren replied with a laugh, she felt her eyes sting with tears and she looked down, blinking them away. 'Well I guess I'd better go home. I'll see you Monday before school?'

'Sure. See you Monday' he replied. She got up and he followed her to the door 'Lauren?' he said and she turned around to look at him 'I'm glad you're feeling better'

'Thanks' she smiled at him and then left.

*END OF FLASHBACK*

Joey sighed, he and Lauren skipped around that night for a long time, both of them pretending that nothing had happened, that neither of them could remember what had happened. They were best friends, but there were some things that they didn't talk about.

His relationship with Lucy.

Her relationship with Simon.

Their relationship.

The times that they had sex.

He turned off the TV. He was going to find Lauren and they were going to talk. Really talk.

**AN: So a little more of the flashback from the first chapter this time from Joey's point of view. **

**They both clearly had feelings for each other when they were 15 and 16 years old, but both pretended that they couldn't remember what had happened. **

**And they've had sex more than once…..**

**Thank you for all your reviews. I am glad that you are enjoying the story. **

**As always R&R.**

**Laters….**


	6. Chapter 6

Lauren was getting annoyed by the insistent buzzing of her door buzzer. She knew that it could only be one person and she knew that he knew that she was inside the flat. She also knew that he wouldn't quit until she let him in.

'For fuck's sake Joey!' she exclaimed as she walked to the door and pressed the door release button. She heard his footsteps up the stairs and she opened the door to her flat. 'I swear that you are the most annoying person that I know' she told him with a frown as he reached her door. 'Followed closely by your bitch of a fiancée'

'Can I come in?' he asked her letting the last comment go, he didn't come here to fight with her

'If I say no will you go away?' she asked him, surprised that he didn't say anything about the bitch comment.

'You know that never works' he told her 'So you may as well let me in'

She sighed and she stepped away from the door and held it open for him. Joey stepped inside and she closed the door behind him

'What do you want Joey?' she asked him

'What happened when you went to see Simon?' he asked her as she turned to look at him

'Nothing' she told him and she walked into the kitchen

'What do you mean nothing?' he frowned following her 'Wasn't he pleased to see you?' he asked her 'I know I would be if I hadn't seen my girlfriend for over 3 weeks'

'You go three weeks without seeing Lucy sometimes' Lauren reminded him 'When she goes to Spain to visit her father'

'We're not talking about my relationship with Lucy, we're talking about your relationship with Simon' he replied as she pulled a beer out of the fridge, she held one out to him and he shook his head, she took the lid off and took a long drink.

'Have you been crying?' he asked her with a frown, she tried to walk passed him but he caught her by the arm 'Lauren talk to me' he said softly 'Please? I'm really worried about you' he told her

'That's sweet Joey but you don't need to be. I'm a big girl. I can take care of myself' she shrugged his hand off and went into the lounge. She sat down on the sofa. Joey frowned and he followed her, taking a seat next to her

If she wasn't going to open to him, then he would have to make the first move and open up to her.

'Lucy was pregnant' Joey told her 'When I proposed' he said 'It's why I proposed, kind of' he frowned

'What?' Lauren looked at him in surprise 'Joey! How could you be so careless!? Didn't you learn anything after what happened to us?' she frowned at him, putting her beer on the table 'Joey I can't believe you would be so stupid and irresponsible' she shook her head 'Wait what do you mean she was?' she asked him

'She lost it' he told her 'She had a miscarriage'

She closed her eyes 'Joey I'm sorry. Why didn't you tell me?' Lauren asked him

'I don't know' Joey shrugged 'I didn't want to stir things up for you, not after…'

Lauren licked her lips and she sighed 'I was 15 Joey' she told him 'It was a long time ago and we both agreed that what happened was for the best, especially considering the circumstances' she told him 'This is entirely different. You and Lucy are getting married….and I know how much you want children' she frowned at him 'You should have told me. I wouldn't have been so mean about Lucy'

'Yes you would' Joey said with a smile

'Yeah I probably would' she nodded in agreement and she smiled back at him, she leant back against the sofa with a sigh,

'Why don't we ever talk about what happened, between us?' he asked her

'Because it's in the past' Lauren said 'what's the point of talking about things in the past when there's nothing that you can do change them?'

'Talking about it might help'

'Help who?' Lauren asked him 'We had sex. I got pregnant and I miscarried. That's it' she said shaking her head 'There's nothing to talk about'

'We lost our virginity to each other' Joey said 'and then we lost our baby'

'Joey we were drunk. We were stupid and reckless. It wasn't exactly hearts and flowers was it?' she asked him 'We had a drunken one night stand and I ended up pregnant, and 11 weeks later I had a miscarriage' she shrugged 'It happened, I dealt with it and I moved on. We both did'

Joey licked his lips 'I'm still sorry'

'I know you are Joey and I am too' Lauren told him softly 'And that's another reason why we don't talk about it, because it makes us both feel guilty that we put each other through that' Lauren took a deep breath and she let it out slowly 'But… I am sorry that Lucy had to go through that. That you had to go through that again' she told him 'were you with her?'

'No' he shook his head 'She was in Spain with her father and Peter' he said 'I wanted to tell you that she was pregnant but Lucy told me that it was bad luck before 12 weeks and a part of me was a little worried about how you would react' he admitted to her. 'I know that you and Simon had been trying to have a baby' he told her 'I know Simons was gutted every month that you weren't pregnant, well before he left.'

Lauren picked up her beer 'If I tell you something, do you promise that you won't tell Simon?' she asked him 'If he ever comes back that is'

'Of course, I know your deepest darkest secrets, I'm involved in most of them' he told her 'besides he's not exactly on the list of my favourite people right now' he said 'You know that you can trust me'

Lauren nodded 'I know and I do trust you Joey you do know that right?' she said to him

Joey smiled 'I know'

'The reason that we…that I wasn't getting pregnant month after month is because I was still taking the pill' she told him 'And I know that's an awful thing to do but I just…I didn't want to have a baby' she shook her head,

'I don't understand. Why would you do that?' Joey frowned at her

'Because he wanted kids' Lauren said 'and he said that if it wasn't what I wanted then he thought that we should break up, so I threw out my pills in front of him and the next day I went to the doctors and got some more' she looked down at her hands on her lap. 'I didn't want him to break up with me. You were so happy with Lucy and I didn't be the third wheel again'

'Lauren you are never the third wheel'

'Yes I am. Every time I broke up with someone and if you were seeing someone when that happened, which most of the time you were, you would insist on me coming out on your dates. Most of your girlfriends hated me'

'That's not true'

'Okay well except for Claire' Lauren said 'She was the only one who was nice to me. Even after you cheated on her' she took a breath 'I didn't want to go on dates with you and Lucy' she told him 'No that's not the truth. I think I was afraid that you wouldn't ask me to'

'Hey, Lauren you know how important you are to me' he told her and he put his hand on her thigh and squeezed gently 'You will always be important to me, even after I get married' he told her softly 'You will always be my best friend and I will always be here for you whenever you need me'

Lauren nodded 'I went to see Simon, the hotel that he told me that he was staying in said that they hadn't got anyone by that name staying there. I asked them to check back to see if he had been there but had to switch hotels or something. They had no record of him on the system. He's never stayed there Joey' Lauren said and she looked up at him 'I think you were right what you said before. He doesn't love me'

'I didn't mean to say that' he told her 'I'm sure that he does'

'Then why would he lie to me?' Lauren asked him 'Why doesn't he want to come home?' she asked him as she started to cry

'Maybe you got the wrong hotel?' Joey asked her

'I checked the text message that he sent me. It was the right hotel' she sobbed 'He just wasn't staying there'

'Hey Lauren, don't cry' he said softly 'Come here' he tugged on her hand and she moved into his open arms, 'Sssh, don't cry' he whispered softly 'I'm sure that there is a logical explanation for this, he probably had to switch hotels and he forgot to tell you that's all' he told her softly, his hands rubbed her back 'Come one don't cry. You know I can't stand to see you cry' he told her, she felt his lips against her hair and she sniffed.

'I'm sorry' she said softly, 'Look why don't you go and take a shower and get dressed and we can go over to the Vic and have a few drinks before we go over to my parents for dinner?' he asked her

'I don't want to intrude' she shook her head 'It'll be awkward enough with Lucy being there'

'Lucy's not invited' Joey told her 'It's just you, me and my parents and your parents' he said 'Please?' he asked her 'I really want you to come' she pulled back to look at him

'Why?' she asked him 'When all I've done lately is be mean about Lucy and told you that I'm not coming to your wedding?'

'You missed out the making a mistake comment' he told her and he wiped her tears away with his thumbs.

'I'm sorry I didn't mean that' she told him

'Yes you did' Joey nodded with a smile 'and you might be right' his voice was barely above a whisper, his eyes fell to her lips.

'I'm not' Lauren shook her head and she moved away from him 'I'll go shower and I'll meet you in the Vic at 7:00pm'

'6:30pm and you have a deal'

'6:30pm then' she said with a smile. She walked to the door and she opened it, Joey paused as he walked through it and he looked at her 'Thank you' she said softly

'For what?' he asked her with a frown

'For being you' she replied

He smiled at her 'You're welcome. Oh and by the way you are staying at mine tonight' he told her firmly. 'We have a stack of moves to watch'

Lauren shut the door behind her with a smile and she walked to the bathroom.

**AN: So you know a little more about Joey and Lauren's past. **

**And you know that Lucy was pregnant. **

**And you know that Simon wanted a baby but Lauren didn't. **

**And you know that Simon isn't staying in the hotel that Lauren thought he was. Has she made a mistake with the name of the hotel like Joey suggested? Or is there more going on there? **

**Joey so wanted to kiss Lauren at the end, but she pulled away.**

**What do you think is going to happen? **

**Thanks for all your reviews. **

**R&R as always **

**Later…**


	7. Chapter 7

Lauren and Joey were at his house after dinner with their parents. Joey had made them both a coffee and they sat on opposite ends of the sofa. Lauren was sitting cross legged facing him.

'Why did you lie to your parents about everything being okay with Simon?' Joey asked her

'You know my mother thinks the sun shines out of his arse' Lauren replied

'There was a time you did too' Joey replied

'There was a time that I knew where his arse was' she replied 'That seems to have vanished with the rest of him'

'Are you worried about him?' he asked her, she shook her head

'No' she admitted 'he sent me a text this morning, so he's not lying dead in a gutter somewhere'

'What did the text say?' Joey asked her.

Lauren pulled her phone out of her bag and scrolled through her messages 'Wish you were here Pookie, missing you lots, I love you, See you soon Si. Xxxxxx' she read out

'See he's missing you' he told her 'he calls you Pookie?' he asked trying unsuccessfully to hide his amusement, Lauren couldn't help but laugh with Joey. They laughed until they both had tears rolling down their cheeks, 'Oh my god I am so sorry' Joey said to her once they had regained some composure 'I shouldn't have laughed at his pet name for you…its ...cute…Pookie?' he asked her raising his eyebrows at her 'do you have a pet name for him?' he asked her 'If you do I promise you I won't laugh' he wiped his eyes

'It's not funny Joey' she scolded him 'I don't know why I'm laughing….it was the look on your face' she told him and she pulled a tissue out of her bag and wiped her eyes and her nose. 'He's never called me Pookie before and he's never called himself Si' she told him, Joey's face grew serious 'and I'm thinking that my pet name for him is going to be "lying cheating sack of shit"' she told him

'I like it. It's… catchy' Joey said and despite the seriousness of the situation he started to laugh again.

'You're an insensitive pig Joey!' Lauren exclaimed 'I just told you that I think my boyfriend is cheating on me and all you do is laugh!' she frowned at him. She got up and she went into the kitchen and she found a bottle of wine and she took the cork out and took a drink from the bottle.

'I'm sorry' Joey told her from the doorway 'you're right, it's not funny' he said he walked over to her and he took the bottle from her 'what are you going to do?'

'There's nothing I can do' Lauren said 'I don't know where he is' she told him with a sigh. He took the bottle from her and he took a drink

'Have you tried calling his office?'

'And let them give him the heads up that I know that he's been lying to me?'

'You think that he's not going to realise that he sent that text to you if it was meant for someone else?' he asked her

'There's no if. It was clearly meant for someone else' she replied taking the bottle back and taking another drink

'Getting drunk isn't going to make you feel better' Joey told her

'No but it might give me enough courage to call the cheating bastard' she replied

'Drunk calling is not a good idea either' he told her 'You need to come up with a plan to catch him out'

'Don't you think that the fact that he's not at the hotel he said he was staying in and the text message to "Pookie" is catching him out?' she asked him and she took another drink, he took the bottle from her 'Hey! I want that' she frowned at him

'Come and get it then' he said raising his eyebrows at her, he waved it in front of her and went into the lunge and sat down on the sofa, she followed and threw herself down beside him, almost onto his lap but not quite. She watched him take a long drink and then he handed the bottle back to her and she did the same.

'So….what makes a guy cheat?' she asked him

'I don't know. Could be a lot of things' he said to her with a shrug

'Okay. Then, what made you cheat on Claire?' she asked him 'What was so special about Lucy that made you want her more than you wanted Claire?'

'I didn't not want Claire' Joey told her 'I just wanted Lucy too'

'Why?' she asked him, he took the bottle from her

He sighed 'I don't know. She was funny, attractive and sexy'

'Lucy sexy?' Lauren asked him 'I find that hard to believe'

Joey ignored her 'There was just something about the way she paid attention to me that made me want her' he said 'It wasn't supposed to be anything serious. It wasn't supposed to be something that broke me and Claire up. That was Claire's choice not mine'

'So if Claire hadn't dumped you. If she said that she would forgive you and work things would you two still be with her?'

'I don't know' Joey said 'Probably yeah' he nodded

'So was Claire the great love of your life?'

Joey looked at Lauren 'Is Simon yours?' he turned the question round onto her

'No' she answered honestly.

'So if you don't see a future with him, why are still with him?' he asked her

She took the wine from him and took a drink 'If Claire knocked on the front door right now and asked you take her back, would you?' she asked him

'No' he answered without hesitation

'Because you're in love with Lucy now?' Lauren frowned 'I don't get it. If Claire was the great love of your life, why wouldn't you want her back?'

'I never said that Claire was the great love of my life' Joey told her

'Is it Lucy?' Lauren asked him 'Is she the one?'

'No' Joey answered honestly

'No? The woman that you are marrying in less than three months isn't the one?'

'No she isn't' Joey said

'So who is?' Lauren asked him 'Do I know her? Is it an ex?'

'We never dated' Joey said shaking his head

'Why not?' Lauren frowned 'Wasn't she interested in you?'

'Hard to say. There were times when I thought that she was and then something would happen that would make me think that I was wrong' he said

'Like what?' Lauren pressed him

'We're supposed to be talking about you and Simon'

'I want to talk about this' she grinned at him 'I'm interested in the story about the girl that got away' she told him 'Oh! If she knocked on the front door and said that she wanted to be with you what would you do?' she asked him. She was waiting for an answer when her mobile rang.

'You should get that' Joey said as they both looked at it and saw that it was Simon. 'I'll get some more wine' he told her and he got up and went into the kitchen.

**AN: So what is Lauren going to say to Simon? What is Simon going to say to her? **

**Which girl is "the one" for Joey? **

**Thank you for all your reviews, shout out to the guest reviewers, thanks guys! **

**As always R&R **

**Back tomorrow. **


	8. Chapter 8

Lauren watched Joey leave the room before she answered the phone.

'Hello' she said her tone pleasant but not too welcoming.

'Hi' Simon said softly 'I take it that you've decided to talk to me now?' he asked her

'It wasn't my idea to answer the phone it was Joey's' Lauren replied

'Joey's' Simon replied 'Are you with him?'

'I'm at his place, he's in the kitchen getting some more wine'

'So is that what you've been doing while I've been away? Hanging out and getting drunk with Joey?'

'He is my best friend' Lauren reminded him

'It's not normal, the amount of time that you two spend together' Simon sounded jealous 'you see more of him than his fiancée does. You do remember that he's getting married?'

Lauren frowned feeling herself getting angrier 'Did you just call to have another go at me about my relationship with Joey?' Lauren asked him 'because if you did…..'

'No. No that's not why I called. I wanted to apologise to you. Look, Lauren I am really sorry that I couldn't get back last weekend' he told her 'but I will be home this weekend and I am really excited to see you, I've missed you so much Lauren' he said 'I thought maybe we could go to dinner at Scarlett's' he suggested 'it is your favourite restaurant' she looked up at Joey as he came back, he gestured asking her if she wanted him to leave but she shook her head, he sat down next to her and took a drink. 'So what do you say?'

'I have plans this weekend' Lauren told him

'With Joey?'

'Yes'

'Can't you cancel them?' he asked

'Why? Just because you say you're coming home? Why should I cancel my plans for you when you've left me hanging every single weekend?'

'I know that you are upset Lauren' he told her 'I am sorry and if you let me I'll make it up to you this weekend starting with dinner'

'I'm not upset' Lauren replied shaking her head

'You sound upset and you have every right to be I know that I have let you down, but I am doing this for our future' he told her 'when you finally get pregnant we'll have a nice little nest egg set up for the baby'

Lauren took a deep breath and she reached for the bottle of wine which Joey gave her and she took a long drink before handing it back

'There isn't going to be a baby' Lauren replied 'Do you think that you can just swan off to God to knows where with God knows who and leave me to bring up your child?' Lauren asked him 'That's not going to happen'

'We'll talk about this when I get back'

'There's nothing to talk about. I don't want to have a baby with you. The decisions been made'

'Don't you think that's something we should talk about together?' Simon asked her quietly

'No I don't' Lauren replied 'if you come back this weekend you can stay at the B&B, you are not staying at the flat'

'Lauren don't be like that' Simon frowned 'I'm not staying in the B&B when I have a perfectly good bed in a perfectly good flat'

'Fine then I'll stay with Joey' Lauren replied, she heard Simon sigh and could imagine that he was running his fingers through his hair

'Can we for once have a conversation that doesn't have Joey in it?'

'You mentioned him first' she replied

'Don't you miss me at all?' Simon tried another tact with her 'Our lazy Sunday mornings we spend in bed, making love?' he asked her 'Staying up late talking about our future together?' she didn't reply 'What about all the plans we made together babe?'

'Don't call me that' she frowned

'Is your precious Joey the only one who gets to call you babe?' he asked her angrily

'Yeah as a matter of fact he is' she told him 'who is Pookie?' she asked him, this time it was Simon's turn to go quiet 'I asked you a question'

'You were avoiding me. I thought..' he sighed 'I thought if I used a silly pet name that you might change your mind and realise how I feel about you and you'd talk to me. Look if you don't like it ….'

'I don't' she replied 'What hotel are you staying at?'

'The Belvedere, you know that. Why?'

'What room number?' she asked him she looked at Joey and gestured for his phone, he pulled it out of his pocket and he gave it to her, he had the screen lock on, Lauren entered the 4 digit code and the phone unlocked, she hit the dialler button 'What's the hotel number?'

'Why do you want the hotel number?'

'Am I not allowed to have the hotel number that my boyfriend is staying at?' she asked him

'Of course you can have the number, hold on a second' she heard him rummaging in some papers and then he read out a number to her , she keyed it into the phone and then handed it back to Joey and mouthed 214 to him. He got up and he stepped out into the hallway. A few moments later he came back in and he shook his head.

Lauren closed her eyes and she took a deep breath 'Lauren?' Simon said softly 'Lauren talk to me'

'Where are you now?' she asked him

'In my hotel room, lying on the bed talking to my girlfriend on the phone' he told her

'You're a liar' Lauren told him quietly 'The Belverdere Hotel have never heard of you' she told him 'you can pick up all your stuff when you come back this weekend' she told him. She hung up on him and turned off her phone, she tossed it onto the coffee table; she got up and went into the kitchen. She leant up against the sink and fought against the onslaught of tears that she knew was coming. She heard Joey come into the room and she felt his hand on her back, rubbing gently. 'Don't' she tried to move away from him but he wouldn't let her,

'Hey' he said softly 'come here' he whispered softly as he turned her around and folded her into his arms 'It's okay I've got you' he told her and he rocked her gently, he could hear her taking deep breaths trying to fight off the tears 'Let it out' he whispered

'I hate him so much' she hiccupped as the tears started to fall

'I know you do' he told her 'I'm sorry that he hurt you' he held her whilst she cried against him, occasionally he would run his hand over her hair, and kiss the top of her head or the side of her head. 'Sssh' he whispered, he didn't care that she was getting his shirt wet. After 15 minutes she sniffed and pulled away to look at him. Her mascara had run and he knew that he had to have some on his shirt, her eyes were red and swollen and her nose was running, 'wow you look very attractive right now' he teased her with a gentle smile. 'Why don't you go upstairs, freshen up a little?' he asked her

'Then can we get drunk?' she asked him

'We can get drunker' he suggested 'Do you want me to beat him up for you when he comes back?'

'Yes please' she nodded with a smile and Joey squeezed her chin softly,

'All right then I will' he told her 'I'll open the new bottle of wine while you are upstairs'

Two and half bottles of wine had been drunk, more by Lauren than Joey, she yawned and Joey smiled.

'Come on, let's get you to bed' he told her taking the bottle of wine away from her and setting it down on the coffee table. He helped her up and she wobbled on her feet so he scooped her up into his arms and carried her up the stairs.

'Can we sleep in your room?' she asked him raising her head slightly from his shoulder to look at him

'Yes' he nodded, 'but first you need to get ready for bed' he told her. He put her down in the bathroom 'I'll get you something to sleep in' he told her 'Wash your face and clean your teeth' he told her

'Yes daddy' Lauren smiled at him

'Okay now you are just trying to turn me on' he called over his shoulder as he walked into his bedroom to get a t-shirt for her to sleep in. He appeared in the bathroom just as she was trying to take her top off.

'Joey..it's stuck!' she told him. He couldn't help but laugh at her. She had one arm half out of her top but the piece of clothing was stuck on her head. 'Don't laugh at me, help me!' she giggled

'What are you like hey? There's a zip on the back' he told her as he pulled the top back down and turned her around and unzipped the top and then helped her pull it off.

'Thank you' she said with a smile batting her eyelashes at him. Joey laughed at her again.

'You're welcome, finish getting ready for bed' he told her

'Yes daddy' she said again and then she giggled.

Joey shook his head and went into his room. He stripped down to his boxers shorts and pulled on a clean t-shirt and he waited for Lauren to finish in the bathroom.

A few minutes later he heard the toilet flush, followed by her bare feet padding across the landing then he heard the bed creaking as she sat down and climbed in.

'Try and get some sleep' he told her 'I'll be back in a minute'

She nodded and he walked out.

When he came back he closed the door behind him, turning off the bedroom light. He walked around to the other side of the bed and as he sat down Lauren turned her bedside light on. She rolled onto her side as he climbed into the bed,

'I used your tooth brush' she told him

'I noticed' he smiled as he lay on his back, turning his head to look at her.

'We won't be able to do this when you're married' she said to him

'Do what?' he frowned 'Use the same toothbrush?'

'Sleep in the same bed' she said to him

'No probably not' he replied

Lauren licked her lips and bit back a smile 'Does Lucy call you daddy?'

'You do know you are not too old to go across my knee' he told her 'I would have thought you would remember that. You're what 22 now? Four years isn't a long time, surely you haven't forgotten'

'No I haven't forgotten' Lauren replied 'Neither has my bottom ..thank you'

'You're welcome' he said with a smile and he looked up at the ceiling.

'Thanks for letting me stay here tonight' she told him 'and thank you for being so nice to me' she said 'I don't know what I would do without you'

'Best friends for life' Joey replied 'that's what we are'

Lauren smiled 'Yeah we are' she nodded and she rolled over to turn the light off, she wriggled in the bed to get comfortable. He thought she was sleep until she took a deep breath, 'You never answered my question' she said quietly

'What question was that?' he asked her

'Does Lucy call you daddy?' she asked him and she giggled

'Good night Lauren' he told her with a smile, he felt her shift in the bed and suddenly she was straddling him, Joey sighed 'What?'

'Tell me' Lauren said 'Does she call you daddy?'

Joey rolled his eyes and he shook his head 'No. Lucy does not call me daddy' Joey said to her 'Can we go to sleep now?' he asked her

'Yes' she nodded her head 'we can go to sleep'

'Good. Thank you. So…you can get off me now' he told her

'Right sorry' Lauren said 'Night Joey' she said and she bent down, he felt her lips press against his in a brief kiss. He swallowed and he knew that he should just let her move off him and settle down in the bed, and they would both go to sleep, but instead he found his hands moved to her waist, stopping her from moving, she froze and she looked at him. They gazed for each other for what felt like hours, but in fact was only seconds, Lauren bent down again and she kissed him, another brief kiss, as she pulled away, Joey sat up with her, his hands moved to cup her face and his lips captured hers. Her hands settled on his shoulders as his tongue tasted her bottom lip, she opened her mouth, he plunged his tongue inside and tasted her sweetness, mixed with a hint of wine and mint, they both moaned, his hands slipped underneath her t-shirt to stroke her naked back, pulling her closer to him, he felt himself getting hard and he flipped her, pressing her back into the mattress as her legs cradled his hips, he felt her foot slide up his calf and he moaned softly, he broke the kiss and he looked down at her, she blinked at him.

'Joey?' she whispered into the darkness. His nose brushed lightly against hers and he closed his mouth over hers again, he ground his hips against hers, letting her feel his arousal. She gasped and arched up against him. She pulled at his t-shirt and dragged it up and over his head and tossed it to the floor, he rolled them again so he was on his back and he pulled at her t-shirt, Lauren felt queasy from the movement and she pulled broke the kiss.

'No. Joey. Joey stop… I'm going to be sick' she pushed against his chest and he let her go, she scrambled out of the bed and ran out of the room, he heard the toilet seat go up and the sound of her retching as she threw up. He sighed and he got up and went into the bathroom, he gathered her hair up and held it out of the way and he rubbed her back lightly. When she was finished, he gave her some water and she rinsed her mouth out.

'Finished?' he asked her

'Yes' she nodded

'Let's get you back to bed' he said softly, she nodded

Joey led her back to the bed and once she was in, he pulled the covers over her, he stroked her hair, 'I'm sorry' she whispered

'Sssh' he whispered as her eyes fluttered shut,

'Sweet dreams babe' he whispered softly, tucking her hair behind her ear and pressing his lips to her forehead.

He got into bed beside her and he stared at the ceiling. His mind wandered back to the time when she was 18.

**AN: So do you think Simon is jealous of Lauren's relationship with Joey?**

**Was Lauren wrong to finish things over the phone? Is Simon still going to come home and what will his reception be?**

**What exactly happened when Lauren was 18 that meant that she earned a spanking from Joey. And was it all she got from Joey? **

**What's going to happen in the morning when Lauren wakes up? Will this make then both finally face their feelings for each other?  
Thank you for all your reviews, glad that you are enjoying Out Of The Blue. **

**As always R&R  
Laters…..**


	9. Chapter 9

*FLASHBACK*

It was Halloween and Lauren and Joey were at a party being thrown by Lauren's boyfriend, Ryan. She had been seeing him on and off for the last year, currently they were in an on again phase. Lauren had turned 18 on the 14th of September. She was now allowed to drink legally. And since the 14th September she had taken full advantage of that fact and Joey had told her parents so many lies in the past few weeks about where she was and what she was doing, when most of the time she was throwing up in his bathroom, or sleeping off her latest bingeing session in his bed.

He hadn't really felt up to going to this party, he had broken up with his girlfriend Sarah a few days before and what he really wanted to do was mope and be miserable.

He was trying to be mad at Lauren, Sarah had broken up with him because of Lauren.

Apparently Sarah was sick and tired of Lauren always coming before her. What made it worse was that Joey knew that Sarah was right, whenever Lauren called him he would drop everything go to her, whatever her latest crisis would be. Lauren was important to him, her happiness meant the world to him and he would do whatever it took to make her happy.

She'd had him wrapped around her little finger ever since she was a child. They were inseparable and that was the way that he liked it. But he had liked Sarah, a lot. And he was annoyed that Lauren had ruined things, even if she didn't know that she had.

So Joey had told her categorically, that under no uncertain terms was he going to a Halloween party with her. But all Lauren had to do was pout and his resolve broke. And here he was. Standing in the corner of the room whilst he watched Lauren in her costume dancing with Ryan, she was laughing and giggling, she was happy.

Joey sighed shaking his head and he down his glass of vodka and went into the kitchen to get some more. Lauren had tried to get Joey to dress up but he refused. He was wearing blue jeans, his favourite pair of black cowboy boots (Lauren had brought them for him for his 18th birthday) and a green shirt.

He still couldn't get over the costume that Lauren was wearing. Her parents would have thrown a fit if they ever saw her in it. He was in half a mind what to do when she appeared in his bedroom doorway wearing it. He didn't know whether he should demand that she take it off and put something else on, or throw her down on the bed and have his way with her. Obviously he did neither, because here they were at the party. She was dressed as a sexy nun, the skirt was so short that you could see her very shapely bottom if she even leant forward a fraction when she was standing up. She was wearing stocking and suspenders that were on full display, she had a wimple on her head when she arrive but had since discarded that somewhere as she claimed she was too hot. The tunic of the outfit was so low cut there was hardly any point in it being attached to the costume. Lauren was a sexy girl, unfortunately she knew it and she flaunted it and used it to her full advantage. Even with him.

When he had gone back to the party Lauren was gone. He frowned wondering what kind of mess that she had gotten herself into this time and then he realised that Ryan was gone too. He could just imagine what they were doing in one of the upstairs bedrooms. He frowned. He didn't like the idea of someone touching her that way. In truth Joey had held a bit of a torch for his best friend since he was 15 years old, not that he would ever dream of telling her.

Suddenly Joey could hear a commotion on the stairs, he would learn later that Lauren had caught Ryan upstairs in one of the bedroom with a girl called Yvonne or Rebecca, Joey couldn't quite remember her name. No doubt if he asked Lauren she would be able to tell him. Lauren had picked up the first thing that she laid her hands on in the room, which happened to be an antique lamp and she had launched it across the room with full force and it shattered on the wall above the bed and showered the occupants with glass and crystal. She had then fled down the stairs, followed by Ryan who was hastily getting dressed and ignoring the protests of Yvonne or Rebecca. He was yelling at Lauren telling her that he could explain and then when his pleas went ignored he had started to call her a tease and a frigid bitch. Joey was quite pleased by this titbit of information. Lauren obviously wasn't sleeping with Ryan.

Unfortunately, however, Lauren had then wanted to prove to Ryan that she wasn't a tease or a frigid bitch and had sought out and then dragged Joey onto the dance floor and she was dancing with him, well dancing was a pretty loose term, she was grinding and writhing against him, and what made things worse was that she knew exactly the effect that she was having on Joey and how jealous she was making Ryan and she seemed to find it highly amusing. She had pressed and wriggled her bottom against him one more time and giggled when she felt his erection. Joey had got angry with her, pushed her roughly away and told her that he was going home, which he did, but not until he had told her that Ryan was right that she was being a cock tease. Lauren was left open mouthed, mortified and on the brink of tears on the dance floor.

Joey had never shouted at her before.

Half an hour after Joey had got home to his flat, he heard a timid knock on the door and he got up to open it. He saw Lauren standing there, still in her sexy nun's outfit.

'Go home Lauren' he told her shaking his head and he started to close the door.

'I brought an apology' she said and she held up a full bottle of vodka that she had clearly swiped from the party.

'It's going to take more than that'

'I'm sorry Joey' she told him softly 'I didn't mean to tease you' she moved forward to come into the flat.

Joey pushed one hand into his pocket and slid one hand down the door blocking her entry.

'Not tonight Lauren' he shook his head again 'Go home, sleep it off'

'Joey…' she frowned at him. It took all his will power to shut the door on her.

She rapped lightly on the door again 'Joey please I really am sorry' she called through the door. 'Please don't be mad at me' he pleaded with him through the door 'Look I'll do whatever you want me to do, I'll do anything I swear, please Joey… you're my best friend in the whole wide world' Joey shook his head and with a sigh closed his eyes, pressing his forehead against the door. 'Please Joey I'm really really sorry' she told him 'I'll do all your laundry for a month, clean the flat top to bottom so that every single surface sparkles…. Please …. Don't be mad at me Joe' her voice was thick with tears. Joey groaned and he opened the door, letting her in.

'Thank you' she said and she reached up and kissed him softly on the cheek as she came into the flat. He closed his eyes and sucked in a sharp breath at the innocent gesture.

'What happened to your shoes?' he asked her seeing her dirty bare feet, he closed the door behind her.

'They hurt my feet and I couldn't walk in them so I tossed them in a garden on my way here' she told him

'You walked home from the party?' he asked her in amazement, she nodded her head and chewed on her bottom lip 'dressed like that?' she nodded again

'Oh my god Lauren!' he exclaimed throwing his arms up in the air 'Do you now have any common sense?' he asked her 'Jesus Lauren, anything could have happened to you. Look at the state of you? You're barely wearing any clothes…..'

Lauren looked down at herself 'I thought you liked my costume?' she asked him. 'I mean you seemed to like it at the party too'

Joey took a deep breath and let it out slowly, 'Lauren. What you did at the party wasn't a very nice thing to do'

'Do you really think that I am a cock tease?' she asked him in a small voice.

'I don't think. I know' he told her and he took the bottle of vodka from her and unscrewed the cap and poured a large amount down his throat. 'The way that you danced with me at the party? You knew exactly what you were doing and you know the reaction that you were going to get and you knew that you had no intention of…..' he trailed off

'No intention of what?' Lauren asked him

'Forget about it' he said shaking his head, he walked into his bedroom and came back with a shirt which he tossed at her 'For God's sake cover yourself up' he snapped at her as he sat down on the sofa

Lauren pulled the shirt on over her costume, but left the buttons undone and she walked to the sofa and sat down next to him 'Joey…'

'You are such a spoilt little brat Lauren and that's partly my fault, letting you get your own way all the time. Well not any more' he frowned at her shaking his head 'You don't get to call me at all times of the day and night and expect me to drop everything and come running after you. It stops Lauren. Do you hear me?!'

'Why are you being so nasty to me?' she asked him, her eyes filled with tears

'Oh no you don't Lauren, do not turn on the water works tonight; that is not going to work on me. Not anymore' he shook his head and he took another long drink.

'Tell me what I can do to make it up to you, to make you like me again'

'I do like you Lauren' he said leaning back against the sofa, 'That's kind of the problem' he muttered not loud enough for her to hear. 'You know what you need don't you?' Joey asked her turning to look at her

'What?' Lauren asked him

'You need to be fucked and hard' he told her.

Lauren's eyes widened. 'Joey!' she exclaimed shocked by his suggestion. He had never spoken to her like this before.

'And spanked! I bet Uncle Max never raised his hand to you once in your life did he?' he asked her 'I bet you've never had your arse beaten so hard that it hurt to sit down!'

'No' she shook her head 'Have… have you? I mean did Uncle Derek..?'

'On more than one occasion' he told her 'all of the times when you did something naughty when we were kids and I stood up and took the blame' he frowned at her. 'That's what you need' he told her and he laughed 'maybe then you wouldn't be such a brat' he took more vodka 'maybe that what's I should do. Spank you then fuck you'

'I think I should go' Lauren told him and she started to get up.

'Yeah that's what I'll do' he said, putting the vodka bottle down on the table, he grabbed her wrist and pulled her across his knee then and he had spanked her as hard as he could. She squirmed and squealed and cried out in pain, begged for him to stop but he held her still and spanked her harder. Neither of them knew how much time had passed or how long he had been hitting her, but when he was finished his hand was stinging and he was pretty sure her arse would be too. She sat on the floor by his feet crying softly. Joey picked up the vodka bottle and took a drink and then held the bottle out to her, she got up and snatched the bottle away from him.

'You're a pig and I hate you Joseph Branning!' she sobbed and she fled into his bedroom, slamming the door behind her.

He left her alone for a little while and then he got up and went into the bedroom. Lauren was lying on his bed with her back to the door.

'I'm sorry' Joey said quietly. Lauren didn't answer him. 'Babe please I am so sorry. I shouldn't have done that' he told her and he sat down on the bed and he looked at her, he touched her shoulder 'I feel terrible'

'My arse feels worse' she replied

Joey nodded 'I can imagine, my hand is red and it stings… a lot'

'Good' she sniffed and took a deep breath

'I'm sorry Lauren. I really am' he told her 'Please say that you forgive me' he whispered softly 'I don't want you to hate me'

'You hate me so…..'

'I don't hate you. I could never hate you' he told her

'That's not what you said earlier'

'I never said that I hated you'

'Not in so many words. And you called me a cock tease'

'I'm not taking that back because it was true' he told her 'I may be your best friend Lauren but I am a red blooded male and you are an incredibly sexy girl and the way you … danced really isn't the right term, but the way you danced with me…. It turned me on' he told her 'A lot. But knowing that the whole reason you were being that way was to make Ryan jealous and that had it nothing to do with me …. It got me mad' he told her

Lauren swallowed and she rolled over to look at him. 'I'm sorry' she told him softly 'I didn't mean to make you mad'

'That's what you're sorry for? For me getting mad at you?' he asked her with a frown and then he laughed at her 'Only you…' he trailed off and he sighed 'Look, why don't you let me run you a bath hey?' he asked her 'It might help the soreness'

'You not spanking me would have helped with me not being sore' she said and she gingerly got off the bed and made sure the shirt covered her sore bottom as she got up. 'I think I'm going to go home' she told him

'Don't leave' Joey said to her 'Not like this' he said and he caught her hand and she walked passed him. She sighed and she looked at him

'How do you want me to leave?' she asked him

Joey stood up 'Can I have a hug?' he asked her

'No' she said

'Please?' he asked her

'You called me a brat too'

'I'm sorry you are not a brat' he told her. He licked his lips 'Lauren look at me please' he asked her. Lauren closed her eyes and took a deep breath, turned to him and opened her eyes to look into his. 'I am sorry babe' he told her softly 'I am so sorry, please forgive me for what I did. I promise that it will never ever happen again' he told her sincerely.

'It better not' she told him

'It won't' he promised

'Okay' she said. Joey smiled at her and he pulled her gently into his arms and he held her tightly. He felt her clinging to him too. 'I don't want to fight with you Joey'

'I know me either' he said softly 'And you can call me anytime, day or night and I will be there. Whenever you need me'

'Promise?' Lauren asked him and she pulled back to look at him, Joey nodded and he stroked her cheek softly with his fingers

'I promise babe' he said softly, his hand cupped her cheek and he closed the distance between them and he kissed her.

And once again, like they had 4 years ago, Joey and Lauren ended up naked in bed together and they had sex together for the second time. Years later Lauren would call it make up sex when she talked about it, which was a very rare occurrence.

That night Joey had fallen asleep with Lauren wrapped securely in his arms after they had taken comfort and pleasure from each other, as he fell asleep he had smiled as he felt another sliver of hope that this time, things would work out the way that he wanted them to. That Lauren would be his.

Unfortunately that wasn't to be, as the next morning, Lauren had once again feigned memory loss due to consuming too much alcohol and as a result they had both avoided each other for the next two weeks. They both missed each other like crazy, but they were both more than a little confused by the evening's turn of events and too afraid to voice their questions and feelings.

And so they did what they did the first time they slept together, they buried it, forgot about and didn't talk about it. Not for a long time at least.

*END OF FLASHBACK*

Lauren mumbled in her sleep, Joey turned to look at her, she mumbled incoherently again and then rolled over and snuggled up against him. Joey sighed and he kissed the top of her head and he closed his eyes.

'I love you Joey' Lauren murmured against his chest, but he didn't hear her, he had fallen asleep.

**AN: So there you have it another flashback from Joey's point of view of what happened when she was 18 and the spanking incident. **

**Thank you for all the reviews. Hi to all the guest reviewers too, thank you for reviewing, sadly I can't reply to you but I do read them all. **

**What are you all thinking so far? **

**As always R&R **

**Laters.. **


	10. Chapter 10

When Joey woke up, Lauren was already gone, which, if Joey was honest he hadn't expected her to be there. This was her M.O after every time something had happened between them.

She would flee the scene of the crime.

It was the same when he was 16, when she was 18 and again when he was 21, so really when he thought about it, why should today be any different.

He sighed, as he felt his hopes fading again.

He knew that he couldn't do this to himself anymore.

Maybe once he was married to Lucy these "incidents" wouldn't happen anymore, and he wouldn't wake up feeling this way anymore, well at least that was the plan anyway, he climbed out of bed and he showered, dressed and made his way downstairs to make some coffee.

He could hear someone moving around in the kitchen and when he walked in he was surprised to see Lauren there making breakfast.

This was new. This time she had only fled the bedroom, not the house.

'Morning' she smiled at him 'sit down' she told him pulling out a chair, she poured freshly made coffee into this cup. Joey sat down and he picked up the coffee and took a sip.

'What's all this for?' he asked her

'A thank you for last night and an apology for last night all rolled into one' she told him as she put some toast down on a plate in the middle of the table, followed by crispy bacon and a plate of scrambled eggs.

'Wow this looks and smells great' he told her 'Thanks babe'

She smiled at him broadly 'Well eat up before it gets cold' Lauren told him as she pulled out a chair and took a seat.

Lauren picked at her food but Joey didn't comment, instead he was about to broach what had actually happened and what had almost happened between them last night

'Lauren… about last night..' Lauren cut him off

'No Joey it's my fault' she told him 'I was drunk, as always, and I shouldn't have kissed you like that and I'm sorry' she apologised to him 'It wasn't fair on you or your relationship with Lucy and I promise that it won't happen again' she said and she looked at him over the top of her coffee cup.

'We are both to blame here as much as the other is' he licked his lips 'Don't you think we should talk about why this keeps happening?' he asked her

'We know. I drink too much' she replied 'And I'm going to stop getting drunk all the time and then these…..events… won't happen anymore' she told him

Joey licked his lips and he nodded his head, he looked down at his plate and he pushed some eggs around, he took a deep breath blowing the air out through his lips. 'So what…we agree to forget about it, don't talk about it and we move on?' he asked her

Lauren looked up at him and she hesitated before she nodded

'Yes. Exactly' she smiled at him 'I don't want to ruin our friendship Joey' she told him, she looked at the watch 'Oh I have to go, I'm going to be late' she told him as she took a mouthful of eggs followed by a mouthful of coffee and then she stood up. 'I'll see you later?' she asked him

'Sure. In the Vic at 1:00pm' he replied 'You can buy me lunch' he looked up at her and smiled.

'Deal' she said grinning

He heard her leave and he sighed.

He thought about things.

Yes, maybe he had proposed initially because Lucy had told him that she was pregnant.

And yes maybe he only proposed to do the right thing.

And yes since she had the miscarriage he wondered whether or not he should go through with the wedding.

Every time he looked at Lauren he wondered if he was doing the right thing.

But now.

Today.

After last night.

After the same old conversation that he and Lauren had this morning.

He was certain that marrying Lucy was the answer. He knew that Lauren wouldn't stay over any more and that nights like last night would never happen again.

He was doing the right thing.

He was taking himself out of the equation.

He took another sip of coffee. He was fond of Lucy, yes he had told Lauren that he loved her, he had even told Lucy that he loved her. And he was sure that one day… he would.

He would stand up in the church and in front of his family, in front of his friends, he would marry Lucy. They would have a happy life and maybe even have children, he didn't know. Lucy had said that it was still too painful to talk about after her miscarriage a few months earlier.

Joey sighed and he got up and started to clean up the kitchen. He smiled to himself as he saw that Lauren had somehow managed to use nearly every pan and utensil that he owned. He shook his head.

Okay so maybe Lucy wasn't the girl of his dreams.

Lauren was.

But sometimes dreams were just that.

Dreams.

Out of reach.

Not meant to be.

Just dreams.

Yes, marrying Lucy would solve everything.

**AN: So, now you know what happened the morning after. **

**You know a little bit more the reason that Joey proposed to Lucy… and why he is still marrying her. **

**You also know that Lauren told Joey she loved him and that he was asleep and didn't hear her, and yes okay she was said it in her sleep too. **

**Hope you enjoy the chapter**

**R&R as always. Thank you for all your reviews so far. **


	11. Chapter 11

Late Friday morning Lauren heard the door to the flat open

'You're early. Did Lucy stand you up?' she called out 'I'm just in the bedroom' She heard footsteps coming into the bedroom 'So what do you think? I thought I'd wear this for the wedding' she was wearing a dark blue halter neck dress that clung to her curves in all the right places, the dress was just above her knees, she turned expecting to see Joey standing there but instead there stood Simon. The smile on her face dropped.

'I think you look gorgeous' Simon said to her 'Wait. I thought you were a bridesmaid?'

'What are you doing here?' Lauren asked him

'I live here' he said as if she was stupid.

Lauren walked up to him 'Not anymore you don't. I want the key back' she held out her hand to him

'Not going to happen' he shook his head 'you and I need to talk' he told her

Lauren shook her head 'There is nothing to talk about. You need pick up your stuff and go' she told him. She pushed passed him out of the bedroom and walked into the lounge. She opened the door and she picked up one of the bin bags she had unceremoniously packed his clothes in and she threw it down the stairs, followed by another 3 in quick succession. 'I've made a start' she said and she grabbed another two bags and ran down the stairs with them and threw them out into the street.

'Hey! What the hell are you doing you crazy bitch!' Simon yelled at her as he hurried down the stairs. She had picked up another bag and thrown that as well and it had split open and his clothes were currently strewn across the street.

'Don't you call me a crazy bitch, you lying cheating scumbag!' Lauren screeched at him.

Meanwhile, Joey was sitting in the Vic waiting for Lucy to join him for lunch, after that he was going over to Lauren's to be there when Simon got back. He looked up as the door opened and he saw his sister Alice come in.

'All right Al?' he asked her with a smile

'You better get over to Lauren's… Simon's there. They're having a shouting match in the square…..' she didn't finish. Joey was up and out of the pub in under a second.

He raced across the street and even though he couldn't see them he could hear Lauren and Simon really going at it in the square.

Joey turned the corner and he saw Lauren was literally throwing Simon's stuff out into the street and Simon was scrabbling around like a dog trying to pick them up, Simon had obviously said something that Lauren took great offence to, because the next thing he saw was Lauren, kicking and punching him as he was crouched on the floor. He grinned to himself. Lauren could be feisty.

But the next thing that he saw made him see red, Simon had lashed out at Lauren and his fist had connected with her face and she had fallen to the ground with a surprised and pained shriek.

Simon and turned to see Lauren on the floor, just as Joey launched himself at him, knocking him off his feet and into the side of the car.

'Joey!' Lauren exclaimed, she saw and then heard Simon's fist connect with Joey's face. Lauren scrambled to her feet, ignoring the fact that she was hurt, all she was worried about was Joey. 'Joey!' she said again as another punch cracked against Simon's face, she saw blood on Joey's knuckles and she caught his arm in her hands and he turned to look at her 'I'm okay' she said to him softly. He lowered his fist and he let Simon go and he tenderly raised her chin to look at her face, she had a cut to her cheek and a bruise was already starting to form. 'Simon was just picking up his shit and leaving' Lauren said glaring at Simon.

'Come on Lauren please' Simon said 'we can talk about this' he stood up straight and dabbed his eyebrow, he saw blood on his hand 'Look we'll go inside, talk this through and you'll realise that you've made a mistake. I love you'

Lauren shook her head 'I don't want to talk to you. I want you gone. You can go back to Pookie or whatever the hell her name is and she can be the stupid cow who believes in your lies' she told him

'She didn't mean anything to me, she was a distraction that's all. I was missing you'

'Oh and that makes it okay?' Lauren said angrily, she moved passed Joey and towards Simon 'you expect me to forgive you for something that you did because you were missing me? Well guess what Simon. You could have come home those weekends instead you chose to screw Pookie'

'Her name is Emily'

'I don't care what her name is' Lauren snapped at him. 'I want the keys back to the flat now' she held out her hand.

'No' he shook his head 'It's over between me and Emily. I want you'

'You heard what she said' Joey glowered at him 'Give her the keys or I will break every single one of your fingers'

'I'm not scared of you' Simon said 'I bet this is all your fault, putting ideas into her head, I bet you were waiting for this weren't you. Waiting until I was out of the picture so you could make your move on her? She's my girlfriend?'

'Ex- girlfriend' Lauren snapped at him

'I bet you couldn't wait until I was gone so that you could try and get into her knickers' Simon said 'It must piss you off that I got there first' he smirked at Joey 'Always sniffing around her like a dog in heat'

Joey looked at him and he took a step closer to him, pushing his face into his. 'I am not going to ask you again, I am just going to start breaking fingers' Joey said and he grabbed one of Simon's hands and bent two of his fingers back until he yelled out in pain.

'Jacket pocket, left' he squealed in pain, Joey looked at Lauren and nodded for her to get the keys. She got them and found his wallet too. She opened it and peered inside and she pulled out his money and stuffed £20 back inside, keeping the rest.

'This is for the money you owe me for the deposit on the flat' she told him. She threw the wallet on the floor and Joey let him go. He doubled over clutching his hand tightly as Lauren walked back towards her flat, Joey following behind her.

'You'll pay for this you fucking bitch!' Simon yelled at her 'I'll call the police, press charges against Joey for assault'

Lauren stopped in her tracks and turned, handing Joey the money and the keys as she passed him she walked calmly back over to Simon

'Go ahead call the Police. In fact Joey?' she asked him, he pulled his mobile out 'You hit me first' Lauren said to him 'To Joey and me it looked like you were going to hit me again when I was lying on the ground, so he pulled you away and you stumbled and fell into the car. You threw a punch at Joey and Joey threw one back. Simple case of self-defence' she shrugged.

'This isn't the end Lauren…'

'Yes it is. We are over and I never want to see you again. Never!' she said to him 'And just in case that isn't in any way clear to you...' she punched him hard in the face, she felt and heard a cracking noise followed by blood spurting out of his nose.

'You broke my nose!' he exclaimed 'You actually broke my nose!'

Lauren walked away from him and she went into her flat, she threw a couple of boxes out into the street, grinning to herself when she heard something smash in one of the boxes.

Joey picked up one of the boxes and he opened the back seat of Simon's car and he put the box down on the seat. He turned to Simon.

'I'm going to offer you Just a bit of friendly advice mate. Stay away from Walford and stay away from Lauren' Joey told him 'and you better stay away from me, because if I see you again, I will kill you'

'Are you threatening me?'

'Like I said friendly advice' Joey said holding up his hands, he leaned in close to him 'And for the record mate. You weren't first'

'You and Lauren' Simon asked him surprised.

'If you are still out here in 2 minutes I going to call the Police' Joey told him 'You remember our Uncle Jack? Also known as D.I Branning?' he said and he slammed the back door to the car shut as he walked passed.

Joey closed the door of the flat closed behind him and he found Lauren standing over the sink, the tap running. He walked up behind her and saw she was holding the hand she hit Simon with under the running water.

'You're shaking' he said placing his hands on her shoulders and he ran his hands down her arms and he rubbed gently 'Come here' he said and he turned her, guiding her into his arms. 'Its okay he won't be coming back here'

'How do you know?' Lauren asked him her voice shaky

'Well for one thing I think you broke his nose. Secondly I threatened him with Uncle Jack and thirdly I threatened to kill him if he stepped foot in Walford or came near either one of us' he replied

Lauren looked up at him 'Joey you're bleeding' he frowned as she saw his lip

'Yeah he got in a lucky punch' he said

'I'll get the first aid kit' she told him as she glanced down at his knuckles 'run your hand under the tap' she ordered him. She went into the bathroom, returning with the first aid kit, as she passed the door the buzzer rang

'Hello?' Lauren answered it

'It's Alice'

Lauren pressed the release button and opened the door to the flat and went back into the kitchen. 'Al is here' she said softly as she put the open first aid box on the side

'I heard' Joey nodded 'let me take a look at your face' he cupped his chin with his fingers and raised her face slightly, he took out an antiseptic wipe, tore it open with his teeth and pulled the moistened cloth out, 'This is going to sting' he told her, she nodded, she hissed in pain as he started to clean around her cheek 'Sorry babe' he said softly, the door to the flat opened and Alice came in

'Lauren! What the hell happened?' Alice exclaimed as she rushed into the kitchen

'Simon happened' Joey said 'He hit Lauren'

Alice frowned as she looked at her brother 'You too by the looks of it' she sighed 'Okay both of you sit down' she told them and she put her bag down and picked up the first aid box and set it down at the kitchen table. Joey grabbed Lauren's glass of vodka

'Here drink some of this' he said to her softly.

Lauren took the glass and she drank half of it down as Alice started cleaning her face up, Joey took he hand and he looked at her knuckles. He made her make a fist and lightly pressed on the knuckles to make sure that they weren't broken. Lauren looked up at him and she smiled. Alice glanced down to see that they there were playing with each other's fingers.

After she had cleaned them both up, Lauren put the first aid kit away 'Thanks Al' Lauren said to her 'and thank you Joey for coming to my rescue' she said softly 'My brave white knight' she said

'Anytime babe you know that' he told her

'Can I make you some lunch?' she asked him

'Yeah I'm starved' he nodded

'Al?' Lauren asked

'Are you sure?' Alice asked her

'Yep' Lauren nodded and she walked into the kitchen.

Lucy looked at her watch, Joey was over an hour late. She frowned, pulling out her phone as she walked out of the Vic, bumping into Alice.

'Oh Alice' she said 'Have you seen Joey?'

'Er, yeah just come back from seeing him, he's over at Lauren's' she replied

'Thank you' Lucy said. She dialled a number of her phone as she started walking towards her car 'Hello, It's Lucy Beale, listen I know that I said that I wasn't interested in the Villa's in Spain, but my fiancé and I have talked about it and we are considering living there after we are married, so could you send me over the details again please?' she smiled when she hung up the phone and she got in her car and she drove off.

**AN: So Simon turned up earlier than expected and Joey ran to Lauren's aid. **

**Joey's obviously forgotten about meeting Lucy in the Vic. **

**And are Lucy and Joey planning on moving to Spain after the wedding? **

**Thanks for all your reviews **

**Back later. **

**As always R&R**


	12. Chapter 12

The next week passed and Joey and Lucy had met with the Vicar. As they were driving back towards Albert Square, Lucy asked Joey to pass her sunglasses which were in the glove box. He saw some papers from the Estate Agent and he pulled them out and looked at them.

'What are these?'

'Villa's in Spain' she replied as she put on her glasses.

'I can see that. What are they doing in your glove box?'

'I was going to talk to you in the Vic last week, you remember, when you stood me up?' she asked him

'I've apologised for that' Joey said 'and explained why'

'Yes I know. Lauren needed you' Lucy said with a sigh 'She came first, as always'

'I don't want to have this argument again Lucy' Joey said to her with a sigh 'so tell me why do you suddenly want to live in Spain?' he said changing the subject.

'I thought maybe it would be nice to live closer to my parents after we are married' she said and she looked at him 'It's only a suggestion' Lucy glanced at him 'I thought we should discuss all our options'

'This is an option?' Joey frowned as he looked at the Villas

'It could be' Lucy said licking her lips 'We could have a fresh start in a hot climate. Imagine all the possibilities' she told him.

'I don't know Lucy. All my family and friends are here' he told her

'It's just something to think about' she told him with a shrug 'Nothing's set in stone' she glanced at him

'It this what you want?' he asked looking up at her

'I just… I don't get to see mum and dad that often, and I'd like my mother to be close by when we start a family of our own… but's its okay of you don't want to, we can just holiday there' Lucy said.

Joey looked back at the papers again 'Why don't you let me keep these? I'll look them over and consider them?' he asked her

'I thought maybe we could look then over together at my place' Lucy told him as she pulled the car up outside her house. 'Romantic dinner, candlelight, open fire in the bedroom…..' she trailed off 'You could stay the night' she suggested.

Joey licked his lips 'I had dinner plans with Lauren…..' he trailed off with a frown and he looked up at Lucy 'but I will text her and cancel, we do it every other week so… Dinner sounds great Lucy' he smiled at her

Lucy beamed back at him 'Great' she said as they got of the car, Lucy slipped her hand into Joey's as they walked to her house.

Lauren had just finished getting ready and she checked the beef she had roasting in the oven and she looked at the table, she had put candles on it and was trying to decide if the candles were too much, she lit them and then stood back looking at them. Her phone beeped and she grabbed it from the coffee table and looked at the text message

'Lauren, Need to cancel tonight. Last minute plans with Lucy. Sorry. Joey' she read. She frowned and text him back, expecting him to reply straight away like he normally did. Fifteen minute passed and she got no reply. Lauren blew out the candles and turned off the oven. She looked at the table and then at herself and she went into the bedroom to change.

Joey had never cancelled on her before. He cancelled dates with his girlfriends to be with her, not the other way around. She poured herself a glass of his favourite, their favourite wine, wine that she had brought for them to enjoy tonight and sat down on the sofa, curling her feet underneath her. She frowned as she thought about things. She looked at her phone again and there was still no message back from him. She sent him another one asking him if things were okay and telling him he could make it up to her later.

She was disappointed that she wasn't going to see him tonight. She had been looking forward to dinner with Joey all day. She took a mouthful of wine and checked her phone to see if he had replied to her last text sighing when he hadn't.

She knew that things would change between them. She didn't want them to. She liked the way things were with them. She liked that he was always there for her. That he would drop everything when she needed him. She liked that she came first. She knew that that was selfish, but she also knew that the same would apply to Joey, it did apply for Joey. He came first. She would drop everything whenever he needed her. He was the most important person in her life. She hated the idea of him being married of someone else taking her place as the most important person in his life.

She swallowed as she thought about that. She and Joey had always been Lauren and Joey. Ever since they were little. Even when they were seeing other people. They were still Lauren and Joey.

She wondered if she were feeling this way because she had broken up with Simon. When she had broken up with boyfriends before, Joey had always been around to make her feel better. She felt cold suddenly as she realised that Joey wasn't going to be around forever. He was getting married. He was marrying Lucy.

And that would leave Lauren alone. Without Joey.

She felt panic rising inside her. The idea of Joey not being there for her all the time, whenever she needed him, whenever she wanted him scared her, terrified her even. And that feeling made her want him more.

**AN: Joey blew Lauren off to spend time with Lucy. **

**Why is Lucy suddenly so keen to live in Spain? Will Joey agree to go? **

**Is Lauren finally realising her feelings for Joey or is she just being selfish? **

**Thank you for all your reviews**

**R&R as always. **


	13. Chapter 13

Lucy dropped Joey off mid-morning the next day and Joey smiled as she leant forward and kissed him.

'Last night was amazing' Lucy murmured against his lips. 'And thank you for considering Spain'

'I will think about it Lucy' he promised her and he licked his lips 'A fresh start might be just what I need' he said and he moved in for another kiss, Lucy happily gave it to him.

Fifteen minutes later he let himself into his house and he pulled his phone out of his pocket, he looked at it and he saw 9 text messages from Lauren and six missed calls. He felt guilty for putting the phone on silent last night, but he knew that he needed to.

He needed to concentrate on Lucy. She would soon be his wife.

He needed to forget about Lauren. He needed to move on.

He decided that it would be like ripping off a plaster, if you pull it off slowly, it hurts more for longer, but if you ripped it off in one quick move, the pain would be intense but for a shorter period of time. He knew the analogy wasn't really the best way to look at the situation but it was the only one that he could think of. And if he thought about it for too long, if he over thought things he knew that he wouldn't be able to do it. This would be the best for both of them in the long run.

He deleted Lauren's text messages and he deleted her voicemails.

He instantly felt guilty.

He got ready for his two week work trip with his dad and he packed his bag and he headed over to his parent's house, his father was already getting in the car.

'Sorry dad, got back late from Lucy's' he apologised.

'It's all right Son' he told him with a smile 'There's no hurry'

Joey heard Lauren calling his name as he opened the car door and put his bag on the back seat, it took all his will power not to turn around and he got in the car and he shut the door as Derek started the engine. Lauren started to run, she needed to see Joey before he went on his business trip. She frowned as she watched the car drive off and around the square and the passed her, Derek waved at her, Joey didn't even look at her. She frowned and swallowed. Now she wouldn't see Joey for another two weeks. She sighed and she crossed the street and headed for the club.

Lauren sent Joey numerous texts over the first few days that Joey was away and called him too, but he rejected her calls. Eventually she stopped calling. The texts came and late one night, instead of deleting them like he normally did, Joey opened one.

"Joey, Have I done something wrong? I'm sorry if I have. I didn't mean to. I miss you. Lauren xx"

Joey knew he shouldn't have read it. Truth was he was missing her too. It was like his arm had been cut off, no it was worse than that, he felt empty, numb even, as if a big part of him was missing. Derek had noticed that his son was ignoring calls and texts but said nothing, except telling Joey if he needed to talk to him about anything that he would always be there for him, he would listen without judgement and give Joey any advice or support that he needed.

On the fourth day of the trip, Joey only got four text messages, after that he didn't get anymore. Night after night he would check his phone and there would be nothing from Lauren. He thought that he would feel better that she stopped calling him and texting him but if he was honest he felt worse. Now he wasn't sure what to do. Should he text her, call her. His phone rang whilst he was contemplating what to do. He answered it without even checking who was calling.

'Hello?' he answered a little excitedly, his heart was pounding in his chest.

'Hi Joey its Lucy' he heard a familiar voice down the phone.

'Oh, Hi Lucy' he said and he sighed.

Derek and Joey got back to the square in the early hours of Sunday morning. He left himself into his flat and found a pile of letters on the mat. He picked them up. Normally when he went away Lauren would pop over to his house and pick up his mail and put them on the table by the door, there was a small pile there so she had obviously been over at some point and then stopped. He wondered briefly if that was when she stopped calling and texting too. He dumped his bags by the stairs and went into the kitchen to make a coffee to take up to bed. When he opened the fridge there was no fresh milk or food, or a little note from Lauren like there normally would be, welcoming him back, telling him that she would be over bright and early the next day with coffee and pastries. He felt a pang in his chest, he shut the fridge door, grabbed his bags and trudged up the stairs.

The next morning he woke at 11:00am. He groaned and rolled over and then climbed out of bed. HE felt another twinge as he knew that again, other times he had been away Lauren would have already have been over and woken him up and they would be sitting in his bed eating their breakfast. He showered and got ready for the family meal at his parent's house.

He felt nervous. He wondered what Lauren would say to him, what he would say to Lauren, if things would be awkward or if they would lapse back into their friendship as if nothing had happened. He didn't need to worry. When he arrived Lauren wasn't there yet. He let out a breath that he didn't know he was holding and he spoke to his aunt and uncle about the wedding, and he teased his little cousin Abi about her new boyfriend, making her giggle and go red until his mother told him off.

Alice found him in the kitchen getting some more beers. He shut the fridge door and jumped when he saw her.

'I swear to god you have a stealth mode or something, how is it that you never make any noise when you come into a room you just appear?' he grinned at her 'It's kinda creepy' he teased her

Alice didn't seem to be amused 'Have you and lauren had a fight?' she asked him

'No. Why?' he asked her, he wasn't lying, they hadn't had a fight, he just hadn't spoken to her in nearly 3 weeks, or even acknowledged her existence.

'No reason' Alice said to him 'only she was excited about the family dinner, you know how our parents take it in turns to cook our favourites? Well mum's cooking roast lamb today' Alice said 'but when I mentioned that you and dad were coming back from your trip and that you would be here, she suddenly said that she had plans'

'So Lauren's not coming?' Joey asked his sister

'Nope' Alice popped the p as she shook her head, she studied her brother's face and saw a mixture of relief and disappointment on his face. 'I'm sure she's really just at home, getting ready to make cheese on toast or something. Maybe you should go over there and get her to come'

Joey took a breath as he carried the beers back to the lounge, he paused outside the door 'Look, Lauren is a big girl Alice and if she says that she has plans then she probably has plans' he told her 'Don't read into this okay?' he asked her

'Okay, if you say so' Alice said and she held the door open for him.

'Thank you' he said.

Everyone noticed that Joey didn't eat much, mainly pushed his food around his plate, Derek grew concerned. Clearly something wasn't right. And with Lauren's sudden absence at the family dinner, he wondered if his favourite niece might be involved.

Lauren looked at her microwave roast lamb dinner, it didn't smell the same as her Aunt Rose's and it definitely didn't taste the same. She got up and threw it in the bin, grabbed her bag, locked up the flat and she headed over to the Vic.

She was seated by herself at the bar when her family walked in. She heard them before she saw them. She drained her glass and slipped off the stool and aimed to sneak out before anyone saw her.

'There's my little Lauren!' Uncle Derek's voice boomed across the pub. She stopped and she turned and plastered a fake smile on her face as he raced over to her and engulfed her in a bear hug, just like he used to do when she was a child,, and then he pulled her back at arms length to look at her. 'Are you all right darling, you look a little pale'

'I'm always pale Uncle Derek' she replied rolling her eyes at his really old joke.

'You'll come and join us for a drink won't you?' he asked her 'seeings as you missed dinner?'

She could feel Joey staring at her, she could see him out of the corner of her eye but she refused to even acknowledge him, Joey was surprised and hurt by this.

She shook her head at her Uncles question.

'I wish I could but I can't' she told him 'I have somewhere to be and I'm running late'

'Hot date?' he asked her 'Anyone I know?'

'Yeah, something like that' Lauren said and she kissed Derek on the cheek 'It's the Tax Man'

'Working on a Sunday?' he asked her

'I need the money' she replied and she walked out of the Vic.

Derek turned and he saw Joey staring at the door after her.

Yes now Derek was certain that whatever was bothering Joey had something to do with Lauren, especially after the odd way his niece had behaved. He figured out that the calls Joey had been avoiding were from Lauren.

It was time for father and son to have a little chat.

**AN: So.. has Joey done something really really stupid? **

**Does he regret what he's done? **

**Is Alice suspicious of Joey's feelings for Lauren and Lauren's feelings for Joey? **

**Has Derek figured it out? **

**Why does Lauren need the money? **

**And why was Joey surprised by Lauren's reaction to him or lack thereof? **

**Back tomorrow**

**Thank you all for reviewing and to all the nice guest reviewers. Yes I will continue the story.. Hope you all enjoy it. If you don't… then don't read it! **

**R&R as always…. **


	14. Chapter 14

Joey and Derek were the last ones left in the pub. Derek got them both another beer and he sat down and he looked at his son.

'So are you going to tell me what's been bothering you the last couple of weeks?' he asked his son

Joey looked at him 'I don't know what you mean'

'Come off it Joey you've been walking around with a face like a smacked arse for the past two weeks. That's not the face of man who's getting married soon. Is everything okay with you and Lucy?'

'Yeah everything is fine' he nodded his head 'She's busy with the last minute wedding arrangements, coordinating the dress and suit fittings' he told him.

'Yeah? And what about the honeymoon is that all booked?'

'Yes, Lucy wanted three weeks in Hawaii' Joey told him 'I pick the tickets up next week I think' Joey took a drink of his beer,

'So do you feel nervous? About the wedding? Have you written your vows?'

'Lucy wants the traditional vows' Joey replied 'the church wedding' he said 'She's pretty much handled everything. All I have to do is show up'

'So Lucy's calling all the shots?'

Joey frowned at him 'What do you mean?'

'Lucy wants the vows, the church wedding, three weeks in Hawaii? What about you? What do you want?' Derek asked him

'I'd be happy to get married in a little ceremony in the registry office' Joey told him

Derek nodded 'That's what I thought you would say' he replied. 'You know your mother and I planned our wedding together, we sat down and discussed what we both wanted and then we compromised. That's what a marriage is all about Joey, Compromise'

'I know that' Joey said with a frown

'Does Lucy?' Derek asked him 'Because it doesn't sound to me like she does' he frowned at his son 'so what else does Lucy want?'

'A villa in Spain' Joey sighed

'Bit pricey' Derek commented picking up his beer 'What do you plan to do with it the other 50 weeks of the year?'

'We'd spend more than a couple of weeks there dad' Joey replied

'What do you mean?'

'Lucy wants us…' Joey trailed off 'We're thinking about moving to Spain after we're married' Joey announced 'She wants to be nearer to her parents'

'Oh I see. And what about you? What do you want?' Derek asked him

'I want Lucy to be happy' Joey replied

'At whose expense? Yours?' Derek asked and he sighed and he looked at his son. 'Joey. The only person that I see making the changes here is you. Not Lucy, You're not even compromising and I don't understand why' he told him 'Talk to me Joey. If you're having second thoughts…'

'Second, third, fourth, fifith' Joey replied and he frowned and he looked down. 'Lucy told me that she was pregnant and I proposed' Joey told him 'I thought I should do the right thing, but .. she lost the baby and …well I couldn't take back the proposal could I?' he asked him 'I mean what would that look like?' he asked his father and he looked up at him 'You raised me to do the right thing, and God knows that I've tried to…' he trailed off and he took a drink of beer

'Do you love her?'

'Who?' Joey asked

Derek raised an eyebrow in surprise 'Lucy' he replied 'who did you think I meant?'

He saw something flicker on Joey's face but then it was gone and Joey sighed 'I'm marrying her aren't I?' he replied 'Thanks for the drink dad, I need to go' he said and he got up and walked out of the pub.

Derek frowned and he got up and he walked over to Lauren's. He rang the buzzer and he waited.

'She's not there' Alice said as she walked passed 'She just left a couple of minutes ago, threw a bag in the car and took off, she asked me to keep an eye on the flat'

'Did she say where she was going?'

'Nope. She just said she was going away for a few days' Alice said with a shrug.

'Oh all right then' he said with a smile 'I'll see you later darling'

Joey sat on the sofa in his house. He picked up his phone and he flicked through the numbers. He settled on Lauren's, his thumb paused over the call button. He sighed and he pressed dial. The phone didn't even ring, just went straight to a message telling him that the mobile phone he was calling was switched off, it didn't even give him an option to leave a message, the phone cut off at the end of the message.

The week passed and he was surprised that he didn't see Lauren in the Vic or in the square. He thought that the pangs he felt when he thought about would start to fade away, but they didn't they were growing stronger and he was missing her more. He had finished his lunch in the Vic and was going over to see his dad, he glanced at Lauren's flat as he always did when he walked passed; her car was still missing. He sighed and let himself into his parent's house.

'Dad? Mum?' he called out

'Kitchen' he heard Derek called out, he looked up when Joey came in 'Hello what can we do for you?' he asked him

'Nothing, I'm bored' Joey told him 'thought I'd come and say hey'

'That's nice isn't it' Derek said 'You can come out with me if you want?'

'I don't feel like working today' Joey shrugged 'I was … do you have time for a chat?' Joey asked his father

'Yes of course' he nodded 'I'll make us some coffee'

'Actually have you got anything stronger?' Joey asked him

'Yeah of course' he nodded, he led Joey into the lounge and he shut the door.

Moments later they were seated, Joey on the sofa, Derek in his leather chair, a generous glass of scotch in their hands.

'So' Derek said taking a sip from his glass 'what's on your mind?'

Over the square, Lauren let herself into the flat, she carried her bag inside and dropped it on the bed. She used the bathroom and as she was washing her hands in the sink, she looked up at her reflection. Her eye was black and swollen shut, she had a bruise on her cheek and her lip was swollen and split. Opening the bathroom cabinet she took some painkillers, going into the bedroom she climbed on the bed and closed her eyes.

**AN: **

**What's happened to Lauren! Where has she been? Is Joey going to open up to Derek? **

**Thank you for all your reviews**

**As always R&R. **


	15. Chapter 15

Joey had changed his mind about talking to his father about what was really on his mind. Instead he pretended that he wanted his advice about moving to Spain. His father suggested that he write out a pro's and con's list. So when he returned to his house he sat down at the kitchen table with a pen and note pad and started.

So far all he had in the Pro's column was "Good weather". The Con's column was almost full. His eyes were drawn to the first words that he had written "No Lauren". He quickly added that to the Pro's list, before screwing the page up and tossing it onto the floor. He didn't want to move to Spain. His family and friends were here. His job was here. He wouldn't know anyone in Spain and Lucy would know everyone. He made up his mind to tell Lucy that they wouldn't be living in Spain after the wedding.

The next morning Lauren looked at herself in the mirror after her shower. She felt her eyes fill with tears and then grew angry with herself for feeling sorry for herself. She dressed and brushed through her hair, careful of the bump on the back of her head, she left her hair loose and she picked up her sun glasses and her bag and she left the house. She turned on her phone and her phone rang instantly. She saw it was Derek and she answered it.

'Hi Uncle Derek' she said softly

'Hello darling, listen I know that you are still away but I really need to have my books looked at, the tax man wants to come and audit us and I want to make sure that everything is accounted for…'

'I can do it today' Lauren said to him 'I came back yesterday afternoon'

'Can you come to the office?' he asked her

'Um… sure I guess so' she told him

'Good, How about we say 12 and we can have lunch and have a little catch up?' he said 'Oh sweetheart I have to go your Aunt Rose is on the other line' Derek said and he hung up before she could say anything else.

At 12:00pm Lauren walked into Derek's office, he looked up at her and smiled at her 'Pub lunch?' he asked her

'Is Joey here?' she asked him

'No just you and me if that's all right?' he asked her softly

'Yeah or course' Lauren nodded. 'Will Joey be back?'

'Later' Derek nodded. He led Lauren out of the office and into the pub next door, it always amused Lauren that her Uncle had managed to find an office next to the pub, she was also certain that if the landlord would let him that he would set up shop in the pub.

'Usual darling?' Derek asked her as she sat down at a table.

'Just a coke and a bowl of soup' Lauren replied.

Derek brought the drinks over and he sat down 'Food will be about 15 minutes'

'That's fine' Lauren said to him

'What happened to your lip darling' Derek asked her

'It looks worse than it is, I .. I got mugged while I was away' she said quietly

'Oh no … when?'

'A couple of days ago' she told him,

'Did they get much?' Derek asked her, 'You'll have to stop your credit cards if they got those'

She shook her head 'No. My purse was in the hotel room, I only had £15 in my pocket' she told him

'Oh well that's good at least' he said to her

'Yeah, well they weren't really that pleased' Lauren said and she took off her sun glasses off, holding them in her hand. She looked up at her Uncle and saw the horror on his face.

'Oh my god Lauren!' he exclaimed 'what the hell…..' he trailed off 'You shouldn't be out darling'

'Why are you afraid I'll scare the kids?' Lauren asked him with a hollow laugh, as she put her sun glasses back on 'I need to work Uncle Derek' she said 'I have bills to pay. A lot of bills'

'Why don't we cancel lunch and go back to the office?' he said to her 'I have a bottle of scotch in the drawer?'

Lauren nodded, Derek got up and he spoke briefly to the barman and then he ushered Lauren back into the office, she put her sunglasses on the desk.

''Did you call the police?'

'The hospital did' Lauren told him 'They pushed me against a wall and I hit my head. I must have blacked out. I woke up in the A&E department, I gave the Police a description but they didn't look optimistic''

'Where were you?'

'Coventry' Lauren said

'What were you doing there?' he asked her she sat down and took off her sunglasses.

'Looking for Simon' she admitted to him

'Oh?' he questioned as he handed her a glass. 'Regret your decision?'

'No, nothing like that' she said and she sighed 'I wanted to find him to get back what he took from me' she said 'He emptied my bank account, my savings account, there's nothing left' Lauren said to him 'My credit cards got declined and when I called to find out why they told me that I had exceeded my limits. I hardly ever use my credit cards… I think he's been using them, the numbers… I… the company said I owed £25000' Lauren told him 'And the money that granddad Jim gave me and Joey, his share was £20000 and he took that too and Joey was going to use the money to pay for the honeymoon and I don't have it to give to him' Lauren said, Derek could see that she was getting more and more upset as he told her everything

'Have you told Joey?'

'No'

'Why not?' Derek asked her

'Joey stopped talking to me nearly a month ago, he stopped returning my calls and my texts and I don't know why' Lauren was openly sobbing now 'I don't know what I did wrong, he didn't tell me' she looked at her uncle 'I don't know what to do Uncle Derek, I know that I have to pay everything back …. But half of it was Joey's. How am I going to get that back so he can pay for the honeymoon?' she asked him 'I've tried working more jobs, and I sold a few things, a necklace and the car, but I've got £8000' she said

Derek took his niece into his arms and he held her while she cried 'It's okay, Uncle Derek will help sort things out angel' he told her softly. 'Let me take you home' he told her

'What about your books?' she asked him

'We'll worry about those another day, right now I'm more worried about you' he told her.

He took her back to his house and he settled her down onto the sofa after she confessed she didn't sleep well. He covered her with a blanket when she was asleep and closed the door to the lounge.

He sat on the bottom of the stairs and he called Joey and waited for him to come over.

Half an hour later, he arrived 'What's up? I went to the office and you weren't there'

'I had a family emergency' Derek said 'Why did you stop talking to Lauren?' he asked him

'I… Look it's complicated' Joey said and he frowned 'She's just too ….she needs to stand on her own two feet, rely on someone else'

'Is this another one of Lucy's demands?' Derek asked him

'No' Joey shook his head

Derek pulled a cheque out of his pocket and he held it out to him 'Here' he said

'What's this?'

'Your half of the inheritance from my old man' he told him

'Did Lauren give it to you?'

'Lauren doesn't have it to give' he said 'Simon has cleaned all her accounts out, including your half of the inheritance' Derek said 'you need this to pay for the honeymoon?'

'Well yes but…' Joey frowned

'You know she's more worried about paying you back than she is about paying the rest of the money back. She sold some jewellery and her car so you wouldn't have to miss out on your honeymoon' Derek frowned at him 'she even went looking for Simon in Coventry but he's long gone'

'She went looking for him?' Joey asked him 'By herself?'

'What did you just tell me? She needs to start standing on her own feet, rely on someone else?'

'I'll go and see her …' he turned to go

'She's here. She's asleep on the sofa' Derek said 'She got mugged when she was in Coventry, she didn't have much money on her so they took their frustrations out on Lauren, beat her up pretty bad. She cried herself to sleep about 45 minutes ago' Joey turned towards the lounge 'Don't you wake her!' Derek warned him.

Joey opened the door and he went into the room, pushing the door almost shut behind him, Derek got off the stairs and he crept forward to peer through the gap in the door, Joey looked down at Lauren, her hair was covering her face, he crouched down beside her and tenderly brushed her hair away from her face, he watched the horror on his son's face as he saw her beaten, bruised and swollen face. Joey's eyes filled with tears as he looked down at her,

'Babe' he whispered softly.

'Derek?' Lauren said sleepily

'It's me' Joey replied 'I'm sorry I didn't mean to wake you'

'Joey?' she opened her eyes to look at him and she saw his face gazing down at her

'Hi' he softly

'Joey!' Lauren said again as she sat up before bursting into tears again

'Oh no babe don't cry' Joey said and he sat beside her and she fell into this arms, Derek watched as he held her and then Lauren pulled away to look at him, Joey carefully wiped her tears away.

'I'm sorry Joey… for whatever I did I'm sorry….' Lauren told him solemnly

'Shh, you didn't do anything' he told her softly 'I'm the one who should be sorry, I've been an idiot' he said and he pulled her back into his arms 'God I've missed you' he whispered to her and he closed his eyes.

'I missed you too Joey' she replied. He pulled her back to look at him. 'All your money's gone Joey. The inheritance money' he watched as two large tears rolled down her cheeks.

'You don't have to worry about that' he shook his head 'Okay?' he asked her as he cupped her face gently in his hands. 'We'll figure something out' Derek watched as he son gazed at Lauren, he watched the way that he was with her, how she was with him. Joey moved forward and he pressed a kiss to Lauren's forehead. 'You should try and get some rest' he told her softly

'You won't leave?'

'No' Joey shook his head 'I'll be right here when you wake up' he took her hand in his and he kissed her knuckles. He settled her back down and he went out to Derek and he gave him the cheque back.

'Can we use this to help Lauren?' Joey asked his father

Derek smiled and he nodded 'We can, but what about your honeymoon?'

**AN: **

**Thank you for all your reviews**

**Back tomorrow**

**R&R as always **


	16. Chapter 16

Joey looked at his father before peeking back at Lauren on the sofa, he closed the door quietly.

'Let me worry about that' Joey said softly 'Look I'll stay here with Lauren if you want to go back to work?'

'I'm not going back in today' Derek said, he looked at Joey 'you care about her don't you?'

'Of course I do, she's my best friend' Joey told him

Derek nodded 'So what have cut off all contact with her?'

'It's complicated' Joey replied shaking his head

'I'll make some coffee' Derek said 'while you tell me how it's complicated' They sat at the kitchen table and Joey looked down into his cup 'Do you remember the other night in the Vic when we were talking about Lucy? The wedding? You said that you'd have second thoughts about marrying Lucy and I asked you if you loved her?'

'I remember' Joey nodded

'Do you remember what your answer was?'

Joey shrugged 'Yes, probably' he replied

'No. You said who' Derek told him 'We'd been talking about Lucy, but when I asked you if you loved her you said who. Which makes me think that there's someone else who has been on your mind a lot?' Joey looked up at him 'Lauren'

'She's always on my mind' Joey admitted to him

'Do you love her?'

'Yes' Joey replied without hesitation, 'but like I said It's complicated' he told is father

'Why because of Lucy?' Derek asked him 'it's a simple solution, call the wedding off'

'I can't' Joey shook his head

'Why not? I haven't seen you look at Lucy the way you look at Lauren' Derek said 'You clearly aren't in love with the girl'

'She loves me' Joey replied

'And Lauren doesn't?'

'No' he shook his head

'Are you sure about that?'

'Yes' Joey said with a sigh I'm positive'

'Have you asked her, told you how you feel?' he asked him 'Don't you think you should? Joey sighed 'Marrying a girl because she's in love with you, when you're in love with someone else…that doesn't equal a happy marriage Joey and that's not what I want for you. I want you to be happy like me and your mother are'

'Given time maybe I will fall in love with Lucy. If we move to Spain and I don't see Lauren every day or talk to her maybe then I can get over her'

'Do you really think that will happen?' Derek asked him 'I mean realistically. You've been ignoring Lauren for nearly a month Joey and you've been pretty miserable. You both have and the poor girl is clueless'

'What else can I do?' Joey looked up at him

'Talk to Lauren. Really talk to her'

'You don't think that I've tried?' he asked him 'If Lauren doesn't want to talk about something she doesn't talk about it' Joey told him

'Maybe you just need to get her to listen' Derek suggested

'It's too late dad, the wedding is less that 2 months away'

'Well I've given you my advice' Derek told him with a sigh 'what you choose to do with it is up to you. Whatever you decide you mother and I will support you' he told him and he got up and squeezed his shoulder as he walked passed him. He took his coffee up the stairs.

Joey sighed and he finished his coffee. He went back into the lounge and after an hour Lauren woke up. He waited while she went upstairs to use the bathroom, when she came back down she sat on the sofa.

'Thank you for staying with me' she sighed

'I wish you would have told what you were planning to do' Joey said 'I would have come with you'

'You would have needed to answer my calls or reply to my texts for that to happen' Lauren replied

'I know. I'm sorry' Joey said

'You said that I didn't do anything' she said to him

'You didn't' he shook his head

'Then why did you stop talking to me?'

'We should be talking about what we're going to do about paying off the debts that Simon has built up in your name, the money he's stolen'

'It's not your problem it's mine' Lauren replied

'£20K of that money was mine Lauren' he frowned at her

'I know' she looked down 'I've raised £8000 so far, I have the cash in my bag' she said and she picked it up from the side of the sofa and she pulled out a large brown envelope and handed it to him

'You've been carrying this around? You just got mugged Lauren do you really think it's a bright idea to walk around with this in your bag?' he said angrily 'Haven't you got any sense?'

'If I put it in the bank then they would have kept it to pay off he credit cards, I had nowhere else to put it' she frowned back at him 'When I get the rest together I will give it to you' she told him and she got up 'I'm going to go'

'No. Wait we need to talk' he told her

'About what?'

'I wanted to explain why I was … I wasn't returning your calls, texts' he told her 'Please… sit down' he asked her

Lauren sat down and she licked her lips 'Okay'

'It wasn't that I didn't want to talk to you' he told her 'I did' he said ''I just… Lucy and I are getting married. She should be the most important person in my life. Not you' he told her, Lauren blinked and swallowed, 'you call me and I drop everything, I come running' he told her 'That's the way that it's always been. I've always put you first above anyone else' he licked his lips

'I didn't ask you to' Lauren said quietly

'I know you didn't' he told her 'It just happened. I could be out on a date and you would call or text saying that you needed me and I would choose to leave my date to come to you. I put my relationships on hold for you, some of them ended because of you' he said 'and I know that wasn't your fault it was mine, my choice I guess' he frowned 'You rely on me being there whenever you need me and I .. I thought maybe you shouldn't rely on me anymore, that you needed to stand on your own two feet, I mean I'm not going to be able to keep dropping everything to run to you'

'So you cut me out of your life without an explanation, without talking to me?' she asked him with a frown

'I know that it doesn't make sense now'

'I thought that I'd done something to upset you' Lauren said to him 'I sent you so many texts apologising, left you voice mails asking you to forgive me and it turns out that I didn't do anything?' she asked him 'That you decided that you were being too good of a best friend?'

'No that's not what I mean' he told her shaking his head

'Did you even read my texts, listen to the messages?'

'No' Joey shook his head 'I deleted them all' he admitted to her

Lauren nodded and she looked down at her hands 'Oh' she said softly

'I'm sorry'

'You already said that' Lauren told him

'You do believe me don't you?' he asked her

'Does it really matter?' she asked him

'Of course it does' he told her 'I don't want you to think that you hate me'

'Oh I see' Lauren said and she took a deep breath and looked up at him 'so let me get this straight? You want me to tell you that I forgive you because you don't want to spend any time thinking that I hate you but it is okay for me to spend a month thinking that you hated me?' she questioned. Joey looked at her. 'You stood me up Joey. I'd already cooked dinner'

'I know. Lucy and I just needed to talk and to spend some time together' he told her 'we had a lot to talk about'

Lauren nodded 'I understand that part Joey but afterwards, I don't' she told him

'I know I'm trying to explain. I just thought that maybe we needed to stop spending so much time together, that you needed to get used to me not being around all the time' he told her 'Lucy needs to come first Lauren' he said as his phone rang he pulled it out of his pocket and looked at it

'Is that her?' she asked him

'Yeah it is but right now you need me' he told her 'I'll call her back later'

'You know what Joey, talk to her now' she said and she got up and she looked at him, slipping her bag over her shoulder 'like you said she needs to come first and I need to learn to deal with my problems without relying on someone else' she told him 'thank you for being here when I woke up, but I can take care of things on my own from now on' she said, she walked to the door an opened it.

'Lauren…' he frowned and he followed her, catching her hand and stopping her, he let her hand go

'I'm sorry that I got in the way of you living your life, it won't happen again' she said and she walked out and closed the back door behind her.

'Great' Joey said with a frown

'Well that went well' Derek said from the top of the stairs

'Yeah thanks dad' Joey sighed 'State the obvious'

Lauren let herself into her flat and she found a letter from the landlord giving her notice to vacate.

'And my life just gets better and better' she frowned.

**AN: So not only has Lauren lost all her money, been beaten up, sold her car and some jewellery (to pay some of the money she feels that she owes to Joey back), made up with Joey and then broken up with him again, she's now going to be evicted… **

**Can things get worse…? **

**Back tomorrow. **

**R&R as always **


	17. Chapter 17

Later that night Joey went round to see Lauren, but she didn't answer her door buzzer and her phone was off. He sighed and he went to the Vic, surprised to find Lucy there.

'Joey I've been calling you;

'Yeah I know I'm sorry I was with Lauren' Joey replied with a sigh 'I was going to call you back'

'So you and lauren are what friends again?' Lucy asked him 'She calls and you go running after her like a little puppy dog'

'It wasn't like that and she didn't call me, my dad did' Joey said as he ordered a beer 'She went looking for Simon' Joey told her 'In Coventry. He's racked up a lot of debts on her credit cards, stolen her money from her bank accounts'

'What?' Lucy asked him 'Why would he do that?'

'Because he could' Joey replied 'because Lauren wouldn't take him back' he sighed 'she got mugged while she was in Coventry, she's pretty badly beaten up'

'Oh. I'm sorry. Is she … okay?'

'I don't know she won't talk to me'

'Well I'm sure if you give her time she'll come round' Lucy said as the door to the Vic opened. 'See she's here now'

Joey looked up and saw Lauren walk in, she was carrying a box. She walked over to the table and Lucy gasped when she saw her face.

'Lauren!' she exclaimed 'Oh my god, I didn't realise you took that much of a beating'

'Yeah well' Lauren shrugged, she pulled an envelope out of the top of the box and put it on the table in front of Lucy. 'This is my RSVP for the wedding' she told her and she put the box on the seat next to Joey 'And this is a box of your stuff that you left at my place or that I borrowed. I'd like the things that I have at your house back please' she told Joey

'Lauren don't do this. This isn't what I want' he told her, she ignored him, her attention focused on Lucy

Lucy was looking at the RSVP, trying to hide a smile 'You're not coming to the wedding or the reception?' Lucy asked her

'I don't really know you and I don't really like you and I'm sure that wouldn't change even if I did get to know you, which by the way I have no desire to do, because I'm fairly certain that you'd still be a stuck up skanky bitch' Lauren told her

'Lauren!' Joey frowned at her

'Oh and by the way, although this is the job of the maid of honour, I feel that I should tell you that the dress that you think you look gorgeous in, which is clearly three sizes too small and makes your arse look enormous, the one that you think Joey will love? Well he's going to hate it' Lauren told her and whilst I'd like to be at the wedding to hear everyone sniggering behind your back, I really have no desire to watch you get married' she said directly to Lucy. She turned to go

'What about me?' Joey asked her 'I need you there. I want you there'

Lauren took a breath and she let it out slowly before she turned around to face him 'You shouldn't rely on me Joey' she told him 'You need to stand on your own feet' she threw his words back at him 'you need to get used to me not being around all the time' she told him

'Well that won't take long' Lucy replied 'Joey won't be here for much longer anyway. We're moving to Spain after the wedding'

Lauren's eyes darted between Joey and Lucy before settling on Joey.

'Good riddance' Lauren replied and she turned away and walked out of the Vic.

The weeks passed and Lauren and Joey hadn't seen each other, or talked to each other, she didn't read his texts or his voice mails.

Lauren let herself in to her Uncle Derek and Aunt Rose's house for dinner,

Derek had given her a glass of wine and she was helping Rose in the kitchen, just like she used to when she was a little girl.

'How are you doing Lauren' Rosie asked her

'Good' she nodded and then she laughed 'Well better' she corrected with a smile 'I really wanted to thank you and Uncle Derek for helping me out, for lending me the money to pay everything off, for not telling my parents about the mess that I was in, they have enough to deal with without all my problems being heaped on them too. With mum being pregnant again'

'You're welcome' she replied 'and I agree that your parents don't need to know because everything is all sorted out isn't it hey?' she asked her

'Yes' Lauren nodded. They heard the door open again and Lauren frowned 'Is that Alice? I thought you said she was out'

'I don't know. Can you stir the sauce for me and I will go and see' she told her

'Yeah of course'

A few minutes later she heard the door close again as she poured the sauce into the pot and turned off the stove.

She heard footsteps coming into the kitchen, 'Did Alice forget something?'

'No Alice isn't here' Joey said softly 'Neither are mum and dad, that was them just leaving, and no this was my idea because I wanted to see you, to talk to you' Lauren frowned and she turned around to look at him, she walked to the back door and tried to open it but found it locked. She walked out of the kitchen to the front door and tried to open that to but it was also locked. 'I figured you would walk out so I made sure the doors were locked' Joey said as he followed her to the hallway. She glared at him angrily and then she walked up the stairs to the bathroom, she turned to look at him with a smug smirk before walking into the bathroom, she tried the window, knowing that it was easy to climb down the drainpipe, as she and Joey had snuck out of the house that way on numerous occasions, but she found the window locked too.

Joey could see that she wasn't pleased when she came back down the stairs 'Can you unlock the door please?' she asked him

'No. Not until we've talked'

'Is there anything to talk about?' she replied

'I think so' Joey nodded

'You know I'm still waiting for the box of my stuff that I left at your place' she told him 'How about we talk about that?' she asked him

'We have more important things to talk about than a box of your stuff' he told her

'I find that hard to believe' she told him

'Why are you being like this with me?' he asked her 'You are my best friend Lauren and I miss you. My wedding is two week away and I really want you to be there'

'I already told you that I am not coming' she told him 'I meant it and I am not going to change my mind about it'

'Why?'

'Because you're making a mistake' she told him 'A huge mistake and since we're not friends any more I don't need to pretend to support your decision or to pretend to like your girlfriend'

'You never to pretended to like Lucy' Joey said 'In fact you made it well known that you don't like her' he replied 'I was wondering why?'

'I haven't liked any of your girlfriends' Lauren replied

'That's true, well apart from Clare' he said 'You and Clare were so similar' he licked his lips 'I think that's why you got on so well together'

'So the important thing that we need to talk about is your ex-girlfriends?' she asked him 'Isn't this a conversation that you need to be having with Lucy? You know if there are things that you need to get off your chest before the wedding'

Joey licked his lips 'She knows about my ex-girlfriends' Joey said to her

'Well she should know about Clare, she was the one that broke you too up after all' Lauren said to him and she walked into the lounge and poured herself another glass of wine and drank half of it down in one go.

'There is one girl that she doesn't know about' he told her 'She doesn't know about you' he said from the doorway 'She doesn't know that we've slept together. She doesn't know that I was 16 when I lost my virginity to my 15 year old best friend. That we were going to have a baby together'

'Can you unlock the door please?' she asked him

'Why?' he asked her

'Because I don't want to talk to about this?'

'Why not?' he asked her again, she emptied the glass and he put it down hard on the table and walked to the front door again

'Because I don't' she frowned at him 'now open the damn door'

No' Joey repeated firmly.

**AN: So Lauren gave Joey a little bit of his own medicine and told Lucy exactly what she thought of her and the dress, even throwing in that Joey wouldn't like it. **

**Derek and Rose have helped Lauren out of her mess …. Or have they? **

**And Joey has trapped her in his parent's house with a little help from his parents so that they could talk….. Is this going to end well? And what is he going to say to her?**

**Back later **

**R&R always and thank you for all the review so far. **


	18. Chapter 18

Lauren's eyes raged with anger, but Joey stood his ground 'I'm warning you. Let me out!'

'I'm not afraid of your Branning temper Lauren' he told her 'I've dealt with it enough times. And besides you weren't the only one with has a Branning temper so…'

Lauren frowned at him, knowing that he wasn't going to give in, she's seen him angry before. He was pretty angry with her when she was 18 and as she and her bottom recalled. She also remembered the sex that came along after it against the wall and then the sex they had when they got into bed, which was completely different to the hot angry sex they had first. She went back into the lounge and she poured another glass of wine and took a drink trying to push back the memories and thr shiver of desire she felt at them.

'Getting drunk isn't going help, although it may lead to us sleeping together again' he said to her back

Lauren blinked and she drank the wine down 'Yeah that's never going to happen' she replied

'Not that you would remember if it did right?' he said as he came into the room. He poured himself a glass of wine and he drank it all down in one and poured another. Lauren looked at him and then walked to the stairs to get her bag.

'Dad took your phone if that's what you are looking for' Joey said to her 'He knows that we need to talk. He know everything'?'

'Really?' Lauren said 'Does he know that you took advantage of your underage cousin in your bedroom?' she asked him 'does he know that the drunken fumble resulted my getting pregnant? That I miscarried his grandchild?'

Joey frowned 'No'

'Well then he doesn't know everything does he?' she replied and she walked to the kitchen with her glass of wine and she turned the oven off and sat down at the table. She heard Joey follow her and she sighed

'I want to ask you something' he said to her

'You can ask' she replied

'Tell me… why do keep ending up in bed together?' he asked her

'It's been 3 times Joey since we were 15, I'm 22 now'

'Actually it's 4 times that we've actually had sex, there have been other times when we've nearly had sex'

'Are you keeping count?'

'I've drunk as much as you had on each occasion and I could still remember in the morning' he told her 'I don't get why you didn't'

'Maybe I didn't want to' she replied sipping her wine 'Maybe you aren't as memorable as you think you are'

Joey looked at her 'Why are being such a bitch?'

Lauren looked at him 'It that was this is about? This little lock in? Do you want to have sex?' she asked him 'Do you need a reason not to marry Lucy and thought hey I know I'll screw Lauren? She's fucked up every other relationship that I've had, why not this one?' she frowned at him 'Well you know what Joey if you don't want to marry Lucy, you need to man up and grow a pair and tell her the truth, not use me as an excuse'

'What if I didn't marry Lucy?' he asked her 'What would that mean for us?'

'Nothing' she replied taking a sip of wine 'It wouldn't mean anything' she told him 'It would probably highlight your fear of commitment though'

Joey licked his lips 'Lauren' he crossed the room and he sat down beside her 'I know that I hurt you by cutting you off like that, but I honestly thought that I was doing the right thing' he told her

'The right thing for who? Lucy?'

'For me' he replied 'For my relationship with Lucy' he sighed and he put the glass down and took hers away and placed it next to his on the table 'You mean so much to me Lauren' he told her 'and you are so important to me…'

'Yeah that's why you ignored me'

'I'm trying to explain'

'Because that went so well last time'

'I'm trying to explain better'

She sighed 'Why are you so bothered about this? You and Lucy are moving to Spain in what three weeks, a month? You'll never have to see me again'

'I don't want to not see you' he replied 'You are my best friend Lauren. You have been since we were little' he told her 'I don't like the way things are between us'

'I didn't start this Joey you did'

'I know, I made a mistake. I was confused and I didn't know what I was doing. Not exactly. I didn't realise how hard it would be to not have you in my life' he told her 'I didn't know how much I would hate it' Joey licked his lips 'I missed you. I miss you. I miss seeing you every day. Talking to you on the phone, texting you…. I miss you so much' Lauren chewed on her bottom lip 'babe please?'

'Don't call me that' she told him shaking her head

'You know that I'm sorry. Why won't you forgive me?'

'Maybe because I don't want to' she replied 'Maybe because I'm all out of forgiveness'

'Do you remember my 21st birthday?' he asked her

'Yes' she nodded her head 'we had a huge party in the Vic and then at the club to celebrate'

'I asked you to move in with me that night do you remember that?'

'Yes' she nodded

'Why did you say no?'

'Because you have knocked back half a bottle of tequila and it was the alcohol talking'

'I wasn't that drunk'

'You were drunker than me' she replied

'And yet I can still remember that night'

'Good for you. Personally I'd rather forget that night and all the others'

'Why?'

'Because they were stupid, alcohol fuelled mistakes' Lauren replied

'Is that what you think?'

'It's what I know'

'You regret them?'

'Let's see. Do I regret losing my virginity in an alcohol hazed moment? Do I regret that the outcome of that was me being pregnant? Do I regret miscarrying at 15? Do I regret being spanked?' she asked him 'or what was it you said "being fucked hard" against the wall?' she looked at him 'What you do think?'

'You're telling me that you didn't enjoy it?'

'I'm not talking about this anymore' she shook her head 'When will your parents be back?'

He shrugged I don't know' he told her 'They've gone to the Vic for lunch. We're supposed to have the dinner that's been cooking'

'Funny I appear to have lost my appetite' she replied

'Why don't you like Lucy?'

'Because she's two a two faced, evil, manipulative twiglet bitch' she replied

'Don't sugar coat it'

'She's not even that pretty'

'You sound jealous'

'I assure you I'm not' she reached forward and grabbed her glass of wine and got up and walked to the window.

Joey watched her 'Do you want me to marry Lucy?' he tried another tact

'It's none of my business. It's your life'

'If you asked me not to I wouldn't' he continued 'I mean there must be a reason that you don't want me to marry her'

'You mean other than the fact that you are making a monumental mistake? Is that not reason enough?' she asked him

'Why is it a mistake?'

'Because you don't love her' Lauren said 'you only proposed because you thought she was pregnant. You're caught between a rock and hard place and you're panicking'

Joey licked his lips 'There's someone else'

Lauren laughed 'Well isn't that karma. You cheated on Claire with Lucy and now Lucy's cheating on you, well that gives you reason enough to call things off'

'I didn't say Lucy had someone else' he replied

Lauren blinked and she drank the rest of her wine down. She walked to the table and put the glass down. 'If you're looking for approval or support or advice you are not going to get it from me' she told him.

'Isn't that what best friends do?' he asked her, he sighed 'Lauren please I'm trying here' he pleaded with her 'I screwed up okay I know this, tell me what I can do to make things right between us again' he said to her 'I need you Lauren, please'

Lauren sighed and she closed the door and she sat down on the stairs, hugging her bag in her lap. 'No one is forcing you to marry Lucy. It's your choice. You were the one who proposed Joey'

'I know that' he said and he sighed 'and I do care about Lucy' he told her and he sat down on the stairs next to her 'I thought that the feelings that have for this other girl would just go away'

'And they haven't?' Lauren asked him

'No. If anything they've got stronger' he told her

'And how does she feel about you?' Lauren asked him

'I don't know' he admitted

'So this girl has no clue that you even like her?' Lauren asked him surprised 'Joey… '

'I don't know what to do'

'That's your decision' Lauren replied 'I am not going to tell you what you need to do, you need to figure it out for yourself' she told him

'Why don't we go out tonight, just the two of us? He suggested to her 'We can talk, yell. Get drunk put the world to rights' he looked at her

'Don't you think you should be talking to your fiancée?' she asked him 'Calling off the wedding? OR maybe you should talk to this other girl see what she feels'

'It's complicated'

'Always is with you' Lauren said 'Your middle name is complicated'

'It's Patrick'

'Joey complicated Patrick Branning' she told him 'Are you really moving to Spain?' she asked him

'That's the plan. If I marry Lucy'

'You have a lot of thinking to do' Lauren said to him as they heard the key in the door 'you need to think about what you want Joey' she told him 'and this other girl? If she hasn't noticed you before maybe she's not worth it?' Derek and Rose came in and Lauren got up 'At least Lucy loves you' she told him and she walked out of the house.

Derek looked at him 'I take it that didn't work out the way you planned?' he asked him

'No' he shook his head. 'It didn't' he said with a sigh.

**AN: So Joey bottled telling Lauren that she was the other girl! **

**What happens next? **

**Back later **

**Thank you for all your reviews**

**R&R as always **


	19. Chapter 19

Lauren went back to her flat and she found her trusty bottle of vodka from the fridge and she took it into the bedroom. Taking off her shoes she climbed onto the bed and she unscrewed the cap and she took a long drink, she shifted down on the bed and sighed.

Her mind drifted to Joey's 21st birthday. They had gone out to dinner together, just the two of them before they met up with all their friends for a heavy drinking and dancing session at the R&R.

Going to dinner had been Joey's idea. He said that he wanted to spend some time with his best friend alone before their friends and drinking got in the way. Lauren remembered how much she thought it had felt like date. She had given him his present before they had left his house. She had brought him a tan leather jacket, blue shirt and had got him two tickets to see The Script in Dublin. He had immediately announced that he was taking Lauren. She smiled as she remembered Dublin. And then frowned, that was where she had met Simon. She decided she hated Dublin.

After dinner, Joey had put his arm around Lauren and they walked to the club. Once at the club the Tequila shots rolled. Lauren had only had a couple of rounds as she had to keep a clear head as she was working on the Sunday. So she switched to cokes, and she asked the barman to give her shots of Appletise when Tequila was brought. So as the night went on she was fairly sober.

Later into the night she found herself alone with Joey. He was telling her that he was having a great night and that he was so glad that he had Lauren in his life. He had then asked Lauren to move in with him. Telling her how much fun they would have, that she already spent most of her time there and they would have fun together.

They Fats had taken Joey onto the dance floor and she watched as he made a total fool of himself but smiled as he was enjoying himself. She did get a little jealous when a couple of girls tried to get his attention, but Joey seemed to be uninterested much to Lauren's delight.

Lauren sighed and took another mouthful of vodka.

Lauren took Joey home, the plan wasn't to stay over but she was worried about how drunk he was, so she decided to stay over, she left him in the lounge and the she went into the kitchen to make some coffee. Taking them back into the lounge saw Joey had half stripped off his clothes.

'Oh and you're almost naked!' Lauren exclaimed as she came into the room.

'My six pack!' he exclaimed 'Look I showed you once when I was little… look at it now'

Lauren looked and her mouth went dry. Joey most definitely had a six pack. It took all her will power not to touch it, hell even not to lick it.

'Joey put your clothes back on' Lauren told him

'You haven't looked!' he frowned at her

'Yes I have' she said 'It's very impressive' she told him 'All your work in the gym has paid off' she told him and she put the coffee down on the table and picked up his shirt and held it out to him 'Put your shirt back on'

'Why? Does it make you uncomfortable?'

Lauren let eyes wander over his chest, and muscles 'No not at all' she said honestly 'but you might get a little uncomfortable when I start licking you!' she told him

Joey blinked at her and then he laughed 'I wouldn't mind' he told her with a grin

Lauren grinned back as he sat down on the sofa 'You've been warned' she told him.

She sat down next to him and handed him a coffee 'Thanks babe' he said.

'You're welcome' she smiled 'So Joseph, have you enjoyed your 21st birthday?' she asked him

'I have thank you it's been amazing. You are amazing for organising everything'

'That's what best friends are for' she told him

'I'm a little disappointed that you didn't organise a stripper' he told her

'You don't like strippers'

'I think you should strip for me' he told her 'so get stripping' he slurred his works with a smile

'You want to know what I think?' she asked him

'What?' he said looking at her

'That you need to drink your coffee and sober up a little'

'I'm not that drunk' he told her

'Okay if you say so' she replied 'How many tequila shots have you drunk?'

'As many as you?'

'I was drinking Appletise shots' she replied 'I have to work tomorrow remember?'

Joey looked at her and he sighed 'Then I guess I am really drunk ….'

Half an hour later he had nearly fallen asleep on the sofa. 'Okay it's time to get you to bed' she said to him. 'Come on you' she stood up and took Joeys hands in hers and managed to pull him up. She got him up the stairs and into his room. Since he was almost naked she only had he jeans and socks and shoes to take off, she sat him down on the bed and she knelt down in front of him to take off his shoes.

'You're really pretty' Joey told her and she looked up at him

'And you are pretty drunk' she replied shaking her head

'No I mean it Lauren. I know that I am a little drunk, but you are really really pretty' he told her and he reached out and tucked her hair behind her hair, his fingers lingered on her cheek. She smiled up at him and then took his hand off her cheek.

'Let's get you undressed' Lauren said causing Joey to suddenly giggle, she rolled her eyes as she put his shoes and socks by the chair 'Okay stand up' she told him, she helped him up and she reached for his jeans, she undid the belt and then the button and then the zip and she pulled his jeans down. She could see a prominent bulge in his boxers.

'I have a hard on' Joey told her grinning

'Yeah so I see' Lauren nodded

'Its because I was looking down your top at your boobs' he said 'You have really amazing boobs'

'Thank you' Lauren said with a smile 'Okay hold onto me and step out of your jeans' she told him, he put his hands on her shoulders and stepped out of his jeans, she picked them up and folded them and draped them over a chair

'Do I get to undress you now?' he asked her

'You need to get into bed and sleep it off' she said softly, she turned and Joey had moved and was standing right behind her,

'I'd rather take your clothes off' he told her, his voice was husky as he put his hands on her waist and slid his thumbs underneath the material of her top to brush lightly against her skin

'Joey….' She said softly

'What?' he asked her 'we're both single. And I fancy you'

'Joe…..' she said and she made the mistake of looking up at him, his eyes were dark and focussed on hers

'We have great sex' he said to her as he drew her into a kiss…..

**AN: Sorry for leaving it there…**

**Hope you enjoy! **

**Back tomorrow. **

**R&R as always thanks for all your reviews so far **


	20. Chapter 20

Lauren sighed and she took a long drink from her bottle of vodka. She got up, putting the bottle on her bedside table and then stripped off her clothes and climbed into bed, she pulled the cover up over herself and closed her eyes, she tried not to think about but she couldn't help it.

…he drew her into a kiss and somehow when the kiss ended he had removed her top.

'Joey..' she whispered softly 'you need to get into bed before we both do something that we will regret'

Joey looked at her 'I never regret anything we do together' he told her but he did as he was told as he walked over to the bed and he pulled back the covers 'Stay with me?' he asked her

'That's not a good idea' she shook her head 'I'll be on the sofa'

'Please?' he looked at her and Lauren closed her she was tired and she knew the sofa was uncomfortable 'The sofa is lumpy, I have a large comfortable double bed' he turned back to look at her 'You know you want to' he teased her

Lauren sighed shaking her head with a smile 'It'd be safer for me to sleep on the sofa' she told him she looked around for her top, finding it on the chair where he had tossed it, she walked over and picked it up, Joey followed her as she walked to the door, his hands sliding around her waist

'Stay' he said huskily as he pulled her back against him, she could feel his erection pressing into her bottom and his lips glided over her neck,

'Joe…' she whispered as his hands cupped her breasts through her lacy bra. 'Joey…'

'Shh' he whispered 'You want me as much as I want you' he murmured softly. 'I know you do' Lauren closed her eyes 'We're good together babe'

Joey was right, Lauren did want him, but she didn't want it to be another one of their one night stands. She wanted more. 'I don't want another one night stand Joey' she told him taking his hands off her breasts, she turned to look at him

'It won't be' he told her softly.

'Yes it will Joey that's all we do' she replied and she sighed 'I can't keep doing this'

'We won't' he told her softly 'Promise' he said stoking her cheek, he pulled her into his arms and he kissed her and she gave in. Wrapping her arms around his neck and kissing him back hungrily.

They had ended up naked in his bed and Joey had proceeded to remind her just how great the sex they had together was.

She arched up against him, panting and crying out his name as he brought her to climax with ease. After he had found his own release she had whispered those four little words in his ear

'I love you Joey'

She felt Joey smile against her neck and he pushed himself up onto his arms to gaze down at her 'I love you too Lauren' he replied, she smiled at him shyly and he kissed her again, and despite the amount of alcohol he had consumed that night he showed her again how great their sex was.

When Joey woke in the morning he rolled over in the bed and found Lauren asleep, he licked his lips as the events of last night came back to him. He remembered everything, the way she felt when he was inside her, the great, no amazing sex that they had. He remembered her telling him that she loved him, he remembered telling her that he loved her too. He felt a sudden panic rising in his chest and he climbed out of bed carefully so he didn't wake her and then grabbed a set of clean clothes and went into the bathroom. Once showered and dressed he went downstairs and he made some coffee. He sat at the kitchen table wondering what would happen next. Would she pretend that she didn't remember anything or would she tell him that it was a mistake, something that happened in the heat of them moment.

When Lauren woke up an hour later, she smiled to herself and she rolled over to snuggle up against Joey but he was gone. She frowned feeling her heart sink at his absence. She climbed out of bed and gathered up her clothes and she took a quick shower and cleaned her teeth and then after getting dressed she used Joey's comb to sort out her tangled mess of wet hair.

Joey sat up straight in his chair as he heard her coming down the stairs. She paused at the bottom wondering whether to go into the kitchen to see if he was there. She had told him last night that she loved him, she knew that he heard her, he had said it back. But now maybe in the cold light of day he regretted it. She took a breath and swallowed and she walked to the front door, Joey held his breath, part of him wanted her to come into the kitchen, part of him wanted her to leave so that they didn't have to face what happened last night. He heard the front door open and then close and he let out the breath he was holding, he ran his fingers through his hair and closed his eyes.

'Hi' he heard Lauren's voice from the kitchen doorway 'Feeling rough?' she asked him

His head shot up and he looked at her and he nodded 'Yeah you could say that' he replied

An awkward silence fell between them. Lauren licked her lips 'So you don't remember much of last night?'

'It's a bit of a blur' he lied, he thought he saw a flash of hurt in her eyes but it was gone before he could be really sure that he saw anything.

'Well I should probably go' she told him 'I have to work so…' she said softly

'Yeah' he nodded

'I guess that I'll see you later then?' she asked him, she looked at him hopefully, willing him to say something about last night.

'Yeah you will' he nodded 'Have fun at work'

Lauren nodded, they both stared at each other and then Lauren turned to go

'Lauren?' Joey called out, she turned back

'Thanks for taking care of me last night. I didn't mean to get so wasted'

'That's what best friends are for' she said with a smile and she walked out of the kitchen. Joey heard the front door open and close again and he knew she was gone.

Lauren went home and she cancelled her clients that day and she curled up on her bad and she cried. Joey had clearly told her that he loved her so he could just get what he wanted from her and cast her aside.

Lauren rolled over in the bed and she grabbed the bottle of vodka and she drank, dashing away her tears with the back of her hand. She had told Joey once that she loved him and he hurt her, rejected her, and now he was telling her that he was having second thoughts about marrying Lucy, that there was someone else. This someone else must be really important to him because he had never mentioned her to Lauren before. And of course once she found out that Joey was crazy about her there wouldn't be anyway that she wouldn't feel the same way about him.

Lauren had been in love with him for as long as she could remember. But he never felt that way about her, not even after she confessed her feelings to him. He had just used her for sex, told her what she needed to hear to make her fall in to bed with him again.

She made a vow that it wouldn't happen again. She wouldn't believe Joey's lies, no matter how badly she wanted to.

**AN: So now you know what happened on Joey's 21****st**** birthday. And why she doesn't like to talk about what happened between them. **

**So what happens now?**

**Read on to find out**

**Thanks for all your reviews so far. **

**R&R s always **


	21. Chapter 21

Over the next three weeks, Lauren threw herself into her work, earning back the money that she had borrowed from Joey's parents. She was dealing with 4 or 5 clients a day, sometimes working into the early hours to complete a job so that could take on another 4 or 5 the next day. She wasn't taking care of herself. She was bathing and keeping herself clean, always making sure she looked as stunning as always, but she wasn't sleeping well, she was turning to vodka to help her sleep, she wasn't eating properly, and when anyone saw her they could see that she had lost weight, that she looked tired.

Lauren was taking a break before she moved onto her afternoon clients. The R&R, The Salon and Uncle Derek's books. She was sitting in the Vic with an orange juice and a salad, she had eaten about three mouthfuls and pushed the plate away. Lucy came in with Poppy and Whitney, she told them to get a table and she walked over to Lauren. She sat down at the table and Lauren looked up at her

'Hi' Lucy said 'I didn't come here to fight' she told her 'I came to see if you were okay. Joey's worried about you and I can see why'

'Well you can tell Joey that I am big enough to take care of myself and that once he's in Spain he won't have to worry about me anymore, not that he needs to now' she replied

'Can I do anything? If you want to talk?' she asked Lauren 'I don't know exactly what's happened between you and Joey, when I ask him he practically bites my head off and tells me to mind my own business' Lucy told her 'I think.. I know that he misses you'

Lauren looked up at Lucy 'Yeah well you can tell him that I don't miss him so…'she trailed off

Lucy nodded 'Have you changed your mind about coming to the wedding?'

'No' Lauren said

'I know it would mean a lot to Joey if you came'

'Right now I don't really care what means a lot to Joey' Lauren replied

'It would mean a lot to me too' Lucy added

'Why? After everything that I said to you?' Lauren asked her 'Why would you want me there?'

'I think we both said things that we didn't mean. I was jealous of you, of your relationship with Joey' Lucy admitted to her 'You are one of the most important people in his life. You need him and he drops everything to be there for you. Even me'

'Yeah well not anymore so..' Lauren trailed off with a shrug of her shoulders.

'He won't let anyone say a bad word about you. He's very protective of you' Lucy told her and she licked her lips 'Look, you are welcome at the wedding if you change your mind, the reception too. I haven't taken you off the seating plan' she said 'And the Hen night is at the R&R tonight, I hope to see you there Lauren' Lucy said and she smiled at her, Lauren blinked 'Well I better let you get back to your lunch' Lucy got up and she walked back to her friends.

Lauren frowned and she glanced over at them expecting to see them laughing at her, instead, both Poppy and Whitney smiled at her and gave her a little wave. She smiled back at them.

Lauren finished her orange juice and she left the Vic to go back to work.

After work she stopped off in the Vic and she gave Alfie a gift wrapped box with some instructions and then she went home. She relaxed in the bath and then wrapped herself in her robe and she lay on the sofa. She sent Joey a text message.

Joey blinked surprised when he saw Lauren's name came up on his phone, he opened the text message

'Joey, Hope you have fun tonight. I left you something behind the bar with Alfie. Lauren' it read.

There were no kisses after her name like there used to be, he missed them. He spoke to Alfie and he gave him the box. He took it to a quiet table and unwrapped it. It was a shoebox. He took off the lid and inside was a selection of things, he looked through them, Lauren had made him a hangover cure box. She had brought his some Paracetamol, a bottle of water, an orange, a small bottle of vodka, a voucher for a fry up at the café and a small jar of coffee. She had also put in a sleeping mask and some chewing gum. Joey smiled and he put the lid back on the box and he pulled out his phone, he started to send a text message but then thought better of it, he looked round at his friends and he snuck out of the pub. Lauren heard her door buzzer ring and she climbed off the sofa and walked to the phone and she buzzed whoever it was up without checking. She undid her door and walked back to the sofa and lay down on it again, watching the film that she had put on.

'Hi' Joey said as he came in

Lauren looked up surprised and paused the film 'What are you doing here?' she asked him

'I wanted to say thank you for the hangover cure box' he told her

'Oh. You're welcome' she said to him

'Lucy told me that she invited you on the Hen do'

'Yeah well I'm not really in the mood, I'm watching films so..'

'Yeah? What are you watching?'

'Paranormal Activity Three' she said

'They're still making those?' he asked her with a frown

'Apparently yeah' she nodded 'So you haven't called the wedding off yet then?' Lauren said to him as she sat up

'No' he shook his head

'So this other girl thing didn't work out?' she looked up at him briefly

'Why don't you come to the Vic with me?' he asked her

'I can't crash a stag do Joey. Besides I'm not even dressed'

'I can wait' he replied 'It doesn't take you long to make yourself gorgeous'

'I just want to stay in and watch movies'

'Well then how about I stay and watch with you'

'You cried like a girl during Paranormal Activity one and two' Lauren replied 'do you really think it'll be any different during the third film?'

'Maybe?' he shrugged as he mobile rang he glanced down at it 'It's Fats'

'See they've missed you at the stag do' she told him 'you should go'

Joey licked his lips 'Well you know where I'll be if you change your mind' he told her softly

'Yeah' she said and she got up and followed him to the door 'have a good night'

'That'll be hard without my best friend' he replied 'but I'll try. I may even get really really drunk so I can enjoy your present'

Lauren smiled at him 'Good. It would be selfish of you to let it go to waste' she told him

'Maybe we can meet up tomorrow?' Joey asked her

'We'll see' she said as Joey's phone rang again.

'You better go before they send out a search party'

He nodded 'Thanks again for the present. It means a lot' he told her, Lauren nodded and smiled.

She closed the door as Joey left and walked back to the sofa, got comfortable and put the film back on.

After 15 minutes she frowned and turned it off and went into the bedroom.

Half an hour later she walked into the Vic and brought a couple of drinks and then turned to see Joey grinning at her. She walked over to him and put a drink down in front of him.

'You came' he said smiling at her 'I was hoping you would'

'I couldn't miss your stag do' she replied softly taking a sip of drink.

**AN: So. Bit of a turn up for the books, Lucy being nice to Lauren and Lauren being nice to Lucy. Do you think she suspects Joey's feelings or is she just worried about Lauren too. **

**Lauren reached out to Joey and gave him a hangover cure. Joey reached back and now she is at his stag do. What's going to happen now? **

**Next chapter will be up later**

**Thank you for all your reviews **

**R&R as always**


	22. Chapter 22

Lauren let herself into her flat the next morning. She felt dirty, mortified, angry, humiliated even. She couldn't believe that she had fallen for it again. She practically tore off her clothes, in much the same way that Joey had last night she recalled, before she stepped under the steaming hot water of her shower, the water ran down her face and mingled with her tears.

Her mind insisted on making her relive last night and the events that led up to this morning.

Yes they were both more than a little drunk, the alcohol had hit Lauren harder because she hadn't been eating, Joey had rectified that, after scolding her for about fifteen minutes on taking care of herself and eating three balanced meals a day he ordered her a burger and chips at the bar and sat with Lauren until she had cleared her plate, yes this had soaked up the alcohol and she felt better.

Lauren had joined in with the stag do activities and had beaten the boys at their strip poker game (Alfie had insisted that it only went down to underwear and then they were out of the game).

Peter, Fats, Tyler, Uncle Jack, and Joey were all sitting in their underwear, Max and Derek had lost their shirt and ties and Lauren was fully dressed, well except for her shoes.

Joey had noticed that Peter seemed to have taken a bit of a shine to Lauren and would go red whenever Lauren spoke to him.

The older members of the stag party had called it a night when the others announced it was time to meet up with the Hens in R&R. Lauren had tried to leave at that point too, But Fats, Tyler and Peter had picked her up and carried her to the club. Lucy looked up as she heard the raucous laughing and saw the boys come in carrying Lauren, who was bright red with embarrassment. Once she was on her feet, Peter had put his arm around her and led her to the bar, Lucy smiled shaking her head and started to go over to Joey, she stopped dead in her tracks when she saw the look on Joey's face. He looked jealous. She followed his gaze and saw that Peter was sitting close to Lauren, touching her hair. She swallowed and she turned back to her friends and joined in the conversation.

As the evening went on the boys got increasingly drunker. Every time Lauren looked over at Joey he was watching her, even if he was with Lucy. Lauren joined in some of the games and found that she had a good time. She was paired with Lucy in a game of darts against Joey and Peter and they both squealed and hugged each other when they won.

As the evening came to an end, some of the boys had already gone home. Lucy looked at Peter who was almost passed out at one of the tables and she knew she would have to take him home. Lauren went outside to wait for Joey while he said goodbye to Lucy.

'That was quick' Lauren commented when he joined her outside the club 2 minutes later.

'Back to mine then?' Joey asked her ignoring her comment

'I will make sure that you get home okay and then I am going back to my flat' she told him firmly

'I'm really glad that you came tonight Lauren' he told her

'Me too' she said softly. 'I'm going to miss you when you move to Spain' she frowned and looked down.

'You can visit all the time' he told her and he put his arm around her and led her back to his house. He fumbled with the keys once they were at the door and dropped them four times before Lauren sighed and picked them up and unlocked the door for him. She stepped inside the house and flicked the button for the deadbolt so that when Joey shut the door when he was inside it would lock.

'Right. There you go. You're home' she told him as she stepped back outside

'Come in for coffee' Joey said 'Please?' he asked her as he walked over the threshold 'please?' he put the hangover cure box on the phone table.

Lauren sighed and relented 'One coffee Joey and then I am going home' she told him. Joey grinned as she stepped inside and closed the door behind her. 'Go and sit down and I will make the coffee' she said as she walked passed him. He grabbed her hand and he pulled her round to face him and before she even had time to react, his mouth closed over hers. He turned and pressed her against the wall and then picked her up so her legs were around his waist and he carried her up the stairs to his room.

The coffee was forgotten about.

The vow for this to never happen again was firmly locked away.

Items of clothes were ripped and torn in their hurry to be removed, both of them were as eager as the other. Joey lowered her down to the bed still kissing her and he plunged inside her without any preamble, not that he needed any, Lauren was more than ready for him.

When they had finished, Joey rolled off her and onto his side and he turned Lauren to look at him, he pushed her hair away from her face and he smiled at her 'You are so beautiful' he whispered softly 'Every day you get more beautiful' he told her.

'You have beer goggles on' she said and she giggled

'I'm not that drunk that I don't know what I'm doing' he told her 'I've been on soft drinks since half 11' he said 'and even with beer goggles on you are still beautiful Lauren Branning'

Lauren looked at him 'What are you doing Joey? You're get married in a week and you're in bed with me'

'I don't love Lucy' he replied shaking his head 'I love you'

'Joey…' Lauren frowned and she started to move away from him, her intention to get out of the bed and get dressed and leave.

'No. I'm being serious Lauren' he said, pulling her back into the bed. 'When I'm with Lucy. When I'm fucking Lucy, I'm imagining that I am with you. That you are the woman beneath me, surrounding me. I want it to be you so bad' he told her 'You have to listen to what I am saying to you Lauren. I'm in love with you' Lauren blinked at him 'I have been since I was 14 years old' he told her 'You are the other girl' he told her 'I can't stop thinking about you' he said

'Joey…' she whispered softly

'I want us Lauren. I want you'

'But you're marrying Lucy…. Joey this is just nerves…'

'No it isn't' he shook his head 'I've been trying to tell you for weeks, god for years, trying to pluck up the courage to tell you how I feel' he said 'but things keep getting in the way, we start seeing other people, but this ….. this keeps happening with us and it wouldn't if there weren't some feelings there' he looked at her 'I don't want to marry Lucy. I want you' he kissed her again and showed her that he wanted her again.

Breathlessly he looked down at her 'I like you like this, your lips swollen from my kisses, your face flushed from our lovemaking' he said softly 'so beautiful'

He rolled onto his back gathering Lauren into his arms, his lips occasionally brushing against her forehead or her hair. She lay awake long after he had fallen asleep thinking about what he had said. He loved her, he wanted her. She knew she hadn't said it back, to be honest she was a bit scared too after last time. She decided that she would wait to see what happened in the morning.

When she woke up she found she was alone in the bed again. The feelings that she had after his 21st birthday came flowing back. She climbed out of bed and gathered her clothes and pulled them on. She made her way down the stairs after visiting the bathroom, she noticed the hangover box was missing and she felt tears stinging her eyes. She blinked them away and took a deep breath to compose herself before she went into the kitchen. The box was sitting in the middle of the kitchen table and there was a tray with an empty plate on it and a glass of juice.

Joey turned with a frying pan of scrambled eggs and he looked at her 'I was making you breakfast in bed' he told her, he frowned when he saw she was dressed.

'Oh.. sorry' she said with a slight frown 'I can go…' she pointed at the door

'No you may as well have it here now' he said with a sigh. He spooned some eggs onto the plate and then got another plate out of the cupboard. They ate breakfast quietly, both of them not talking, Lauren could feel the tension between the two of them and it made her lose her already none existent appetite, she put her fork down and picked up her juice and finished it off. She licked her lips and she sighed

'Well thank you for breakfast' she said as she stood up

'Don't you think we should talk about last night?' Joey asked her

'Yes' she nodded and she sat down again and looked at him expectantly

'I should probably apologise. That wasn't how I intended the evening to end up' he told her 'Not that I'm sorry that it did' he added quickly when she dropped her gaze to her plate. 'I blame Lucy…. She imposed a six week sex ban. She wants the wedding night to be special'

Lauren looked up him in horror. But he had turned his attention to his plate and was chasing some eggs around his plate.

'Well then I'm glad that I could be of service' she said to him, her tone biting and cold, he heard her chair scrape the floor as she got up

'No Lauren wait! I didn't mean that the way that it sounded' he told her but she had already walked out of the kitchen 'Shit!' he cursed. She heard a glass crash to the floor as he hurriedly got up to follow her. 'Lauren!'

'What Joey?' she spun round to face him in the hallway 'Are you going to tell me that I'm supposed to believe everything that you said to me last night? That you want to be with me? Because it wouldn't be the first time that you've told me that you loved me; that you wanted to be with me' she shouted at him 'You lied then just like you did last night' she told him angrily, her tears flowing freely down her face 'you are a cheating scumbag and I hope that Lucy wakes up to that fact before she walks down the aisle because she deserves better than you. She deserves better than someone who uses his best friend for sex because he's horny!' she told him.

Joey blinked at her stunned by her sudden anger at him 'Lauren' he grabbed her arm as she tried to open the door, the resounding slap that followed echoed through the house. He stared at her wide eyed as his cheek reddened and stung.

'Don't touch me!' she yelled at him 'Don't you ever touch me again Joseph Branning!'

He grabbed both her arms and she could see the anger in them 'You are going to listen to me Lauren Branning even if it's the last thing you hear me say. I do love you. I am in love with you' he said to her 'I meant everything that I said to you last night' he told her 'you are such a stubborn bitch sometimes Lauren. Selfish and stubborn and a pain in the arse at the best of times' he snapped at her angrily

'Let me go!' she struggled against his grip 'you're hurting me'

'Not until you listen!' he frowned at her 'I want you Lauren' he said and he licked his lips 'I want to be with you' he said shaking her. 'I can't keep doing this Lauren. Whatever the Hell this is' he told her 'you need to make a decision about what it is that you want' he told her 'because in a week's time I going to marry Lucy Beale unless you give me a reason not to'

Lauren wiped her face with her hands and took a step forward in the shower so that the water ran over her back. She saw the faint bruises that were already forming on her wrists where he had gripped her painfully. After everything he had said to her last night and then this morning, he had issued her with an ultimatum. His words rang clearly through her head

'…because in a week's time I going to marry Lucy Beale unless you give me a reason not to'

Lauren had gone through an onslaught of emotions. Her last one being anger. How dare he put this all on her! This wasn't her call to make, it was his.

The bottom line was that despite everything that happened between them last night, despite him claiming to love her. He was still planning on marrying Lucy.

Unless she gave him a reason not to. Sure let her be the one to ruin another one of his relationships, if he loved Lauren like he said he did surely that would be reason enough.

She'd said the first words that came into her head. The words that had made him let her go.

'Don't hold your breath' she hissed at him he freed her from his grip and she was out of the house in less than 5 seconds, the door slammed behind her.

**AN: So just as you thought things were getting better … Joey goes and puts both feet in his mouth and then issues Lauren with an ultimatum! **

**So… what do you all think happens next? **

**Thanks for all your reviews**

**R&R as always **

**And a special thank you to Crazychick for your support and ideas and help! Xx **


	23. Chapter 23

For the last 3 days, Derek noticed Joey wasn't as happy as he had been Saturday night, he had tried to get him to talk about it but he used the fact that they were busy at work as an excuse.

'Okay that's it we are closing early and you are going to tell me what's got you in such a foul mood' Derek said as his son was rude to the fifth customer of the day.

Joey sighed and he ran his hands over his face. 'I screwed up dad' he told him 'I totally screwed up with Lauren'

Derek frowned 'You seemed to be getting on fine at the stag do Saturday night' he replied as he put the ansaphone on and reached into his drawer for the bottle of scotch and two glasses.

'We were. Until I put my foot in it'

'What did you do?' Derek asked him

'I told her. I told how I felt' he said to him 'I told her that I loved her and that I wanted to be with her'

'And how did she react?' Derek asked him 'What did she say?'

Joey looked up at his father 'She told me that I was drunk and it was just nerves' Joey said 'I had to convince her that it wasn't' he said as he took a glass of scotch

'And did you? Convince her?'

'I thought so… I did' he said and he frowned 'I know I did'

'So then what happened?'

'I put my feet in mouth big time over breakfast'

'Breakfast?' Derek frowned, Joey looked up at his father over the top of the glass as he raised it to his mouth 'Did you have sleep with Lauren on your stag night?' he asked his son

'Yes' he said before drinking the contents of the glass in one 'A few times'

'Joey!' Derek frowned at him 'You're engaged to someone else!'

'I know I didn't plan to have sex with Lauren. I never plan to have sex with Lauren it just happens!' Joey told him as he reached for the scotch, Derek watched as he half-filled his glass and then drank half of it down.

'You've had sex with Lauren before?' Derek asked Joey. Joey frowned, realising that he'd left this part of the story out of the conversations that he had had with his father.

'Er yeah once or twice' Joey said and he felt his face go red

'When was the first time?'

'It doesn't matter, I've screwed everything up anyway' he told

'I'm sure you haven't' Derek said

'It's over' Joey said 'I saw her in the square yesterday and she crossed over the road so she wouldn't have to talk to me. She came in to the Vic last night, saw me and left'

'Well what did you do?' he asked him

'I gave her an ultimatum' Joey said 'I told her that unless she gave me a reason not to marry Lucy that the wedding would go ahead'

'And Lauren said what?'

'She slapped me across the face, called me a cheating scumbag and told me not to hold my breath'

'It sounded as though she was angry with you'

'She was'

'Why?'

'Because I told her that Lucy had put me on a six week sex ban before the wedding and she thought that I just told her that I loved to get her into bed'

'Did you?'

'No! Of course not!' Joey frowned at him 'Every time Lauren and I have had sex it was consensual. We both wanted it'

'I swear to God you have no sense Joey. I seriously can't believe that you gave Lauren an ultimatum' Derek told him 'It's fairly clear that you don't love Lucy. Isn't that reason enough not to marry her? You slept with Lauren a week before the wedding for Christ's sake'

'If I've ruined things with Lauren, maybe the best thing to do would be to go ahead with the wedding and move to Spain' Joey said 'That way we wouldn't have to see each other again'

'So you plan to ruin another young girl's life?'

'I'm thinking about Lauren here'

'Are you?' Derek asked him 'Because it seems to me that you're only thinking about yourself' he told him and he took the scotch and put it back in his drawer. 'How long have been sleeping with Lauren?'

'Since I was 16' he told Derek 'I mean that was the first time. She was my first time. I was hers' he sighed 'And a few times since then, the latest being last time'

Derek stood up 'Come on I think I should drive you home' he told him 'and then I suggest that you think long and hard about telling Lucy that the wedding is off'

Joey sighed and he emptied his glass and stood up, following his dad out.

Derek decided that he would talk to Lauren when they got back see what she was thinking.

**AN: Derek thinks that Joey needs to call off the wedding and he understand why Lauren was cross with him. Is Joey going to call off the wedding? What is going to happen when Derek talks to Lauren? Is he going to help or will he make things worse? **

**Thanks for all your reviews**

**R&R as always. **


	24. Chapter 24

Derek saw Lauren walk back to her flat from the lounge window. He grabbed his keys and he walked over to her flat and pressed the door buzzer.

'Hello?' he heard Lauren's voice through the speaker

'Hello Angel. It's Uncle Derek' he replied

'Come on up' Lauren pressed the release button.

Derek walked into her flat and he looked around seeing all the packing boxes everywhere.

'What's this?' he asked her waving his hand around. 'Going somewhere?'

'No I'm having a clear out, Mum and Dad said they can store some stuff in the loft, other stuff I'm going to take to the charity shop or to the tip'

'Oh I see' Derek said, he noticed Joey's old teddy bear in the top of one of the boxes, the box had "DUMP" written on the side in black marker pen.

'Coffee?'

'Please darling' Derek nodded as he followed Lauren into the kitchen, more bosses were on the floor in here. 'Looks like you've been busy' he said, Lauren glanced around

'There are even more boxes in the bedroom and bathroom' she said to him

'Are you sure you're not planning on doing a moonlight flit?' he asked her

Lauren smiled shaking her head 'I promise. Although I am considering going away for a while. Nana Cora has been pestering me for ages about visiting her in Australia and she's even sent me an open ticket, all I have to do is pack a bag and get on the plane. That's after I've found my passport, which I'm pretty sure Joey still has from when we went to France last year' she told him 'Do you think you could ask him to look out for it when he's packing up his stuff?' she turned and gave Derek a cup

'Yeah of course I can, maybe he'd like to have Mr Ted back too?' he said

'Yeah if you like' Lauren said to him, they walked into the lounge and they say sat down on the sofa.

'How are you Lauren?' he asked her 'You look tired and you've lost weight'

'I've been working hard' Lauren said 'trying to build up my savings and pay you and Rose back'

'You know we said not to worry about that. Family helps family out'

'It was your savings for your retirement so I am going to pay you back' she told him 'Speaking of which' she grabbed her back from the coffee table and she pulled out a cheque and handed it to him.

'£10,000'?' he asked her reading the amount

'Like I said I've been working hard, taking on new clients' she told him 'Cutting down on things, you know'

'Like food?' he said pointedly as he tucked the cheque into his pocket

She looked at him sheepishly 'I haven't had much of an appetite lately'

'Why's that?' Derek asked her

'I don't know' she shrugged

'You and Joey seemed to be getting along again at the Stag Party' he said casually taking a sip of coffee

'We were' Lauren said

Derek nodded his head and changed the subject again 'So when are you thinking about going to Australia?'

'Saturday' Lauren replied

'After the wedding?'

'I'm not going to the wedding' Lauren replied

'Oh? I didn't know that' Derek said

'Joey and Lucy already know that so..' she shrugged

'Look Lauren, Joey's a bit of a mess. And I know that he's a grown man and I shouldn't be interfering in his life…'

'So why are you?' Lauren asked him

'He's not happy'

'That's hardly my fault' Lauren replied and she got up and she walked to the box with the Mr Teds in it and he pulled it out and walked back over to Derek with it and gave it to him, taking her seat again.

'I think we both know that Joey can be stubborn, much like you can' he added 'and we both know that he doesn't love Lucy'

'Like you said Derek he's a grown man and as a grown man, he's made his choice' Lauren told him and she sat back down again

'He told me what he said to you' Derek told her, he watched her eyes fill with surprise 'The ultimatum that he gave to you' he licked his lips and put his coffee cup down 'Lauren he's in love with you'

'Yet he's still planning on marrying Lucy on Saturday' she said 'I mean he hasn't called off the wedding has he?'

'Well not yet' he said shaking his head 'No'

'And he won't' Lauren told him with a sigh 'It's his decision to make not mine. He had no right to put this on me' she said with a frown 'according to Joey I've ruined plenty of his relationships and I'm not about to add another one to the list'

'Lauren, darling, do you love Joey?' he asked her

'No' she shook her head as she told the lie

'Joey told me that you slept together on his stag night'

'We were both drunk' she shrugged 'It was another stupid mistake in a long line of stupid mistakes' she told him and she got up and she walked into the kitchen

'That's not the way Joey sees it' Derek told her following her

'I don't care how Joey sees it' Lauren frowned and she tipped her coffee into the sink, she opened the freezer and pulled out a bottle of vodka and poured herself a glass 'You want one?' she asked her

'Please' he nodded. Lauren poured him a glass too and turned and handed it to him 'Thanks' he swirled the drink around the glass. 'Maybe you should talk to Joey'

'I have nothing to say to Joey' Lauren told him shaking her head 'He was right this whatever the hell it is can't keep happening between us'

'So you'll let him marry Lucy knowing that he doesn't love her?'

'That's her lookout' Lauren said 'Not mine'

'Darling, I know that you are hurt … Joey is too' Derek said as he took a drink of the vodka

'I don't care' Lauren told him 'He's hurt me enough times' she told him 'and one of those I mean physically'

'He's hit you?' Derek said surprised and shocked

'Once. He told me that I was being a tease and he spanked me' Lauren told him 'I was 18' she said, Derek raised his eyebrows at her 'He didn't appreciate the way I was dancing' she added 'you know the first time we slept together I was 15' she told him

'Joey told me' he nodded 'he told me that you were each other's first times'

'Did he tell you that our first time ended up with me pregnant?' Lauren asked him

Derek almost choked on the vodka 'What?'

'I miscarried…when you and Aunt Rose went on holiday to Rio, Joey stayed behind with me and I stayed at your house so my parents didn't find out' she said to him 'and I bet he didn't tell you about the last time that he told me that he loved me and that he wanted to be with me? It was his 21st Birthday, he and Claire had been broken up and he slept with me. The next morning he pretended that he couldn't remember anything, a few weeks later he's back with Claire' she told him 'So I'm sorry if I don't drop everything and fall at his feet' she frowned at him.

Derek looked at Joey 'Do you want to know what I think?' he asked her, Lauren took a sip of her vodka

'You're going to tell me whether I say yes or no' she replied

Derek smiled 'That's true' he nodded 'Look Angel, I know that you are angry with Joey and you have a right to be. But, I think, despite what you've told me to the contrary, that you are in love with Joey as much as he is in love with you. Do you really want to see him marry someone else, do you really want to throw away what you could have with him?' he asked her 'Don't you think that you owe yourself a chance at happiness?'

'I'm not going to see him get married. I'm not going to make a scene in the church, if that's what Joey's expecting'

'I never said that you had to do that. Joey needs to be the one to call off the wedding. Not you' he told her 'but maybe you need to give him hope that there could be a future for the two of you'

Lauren sighed 'I'm not sure that there could be' she told him softly shaking her head 'He needs to call the wedding off first and then we can talk'

Derek sighed 'You are just as stubborn as he is' he told her softly 'I just hope you know both know what you are doing' he said 'Running away isn't going to solve anything'

'I'm not running away' Lauren frowned at him.

'No? You're going to Australia, Joey's moving to Spain…. If that's not running away…..' he trailed off leaving the sentence hanging in the air.

Rose looked up as Derek walked into the lounge and sank down in to his leather chair with a sigh

You're home early. Is everything okay?' she asked him

Derek sighed 'I may be a little bit tipsy' he told her 'I've been talking to Joey and Lauren'

'Are they talking to each other now?'

'No. Joey was rude to customers at work so I poured us some scotch so he would talk, then I went to see Lauren and she poured us some vodka and …. Those kids are going to be the death of me I swear'

Rose frowned 'Why?'

'Joey's marrying Lucy because he thinks that he has screwed things up between him and Lauren and Lauren thinks that Joey's marrying Lucy because he didn't mean anything that he said to her the other night. And to be honest I can't say that I blame her. I mean it's not the first time that he's told her that he loved her apparently'

'What who?'

'Joey and Lauren' Derek said 'They're in love with each other, but they are both to stubborn to take the next step and that idiot son of ours thinks that he can forget about Lauren by marrying Lucy and move to Spain and Lauren's planning in going to Australia … and did you know that our son got Lauren pregnant at 15?' he asked his wife. 'Remember when we went away for a couple of week to Rio De Janeiro? Left Joey here after he insisted he was too old to go on holiday with his parents?' Rose nodded 'Well the truth of it was that Lauren was having a miscarriage and he wanted to stay here with her, so her parents didn't find out'

'Joey told you this?'

'No Lauren did. Just now' he told her 'and that's not all of it' Derek said to her with a sigh.

Rose got up and she went to the drinks cabinet and she poured two scotches and handed one to her husband

'I think you need to tell me everything that our son has been up to' she told him and she sat on the arm of his chair.

**AN: So Derek's chat with Lauren got him more than he bargained for! **

**What's going to happen now? Is there trouble ahead in Derek's relationship with his son? **

**Will Lauren think about what Derek has told her or is she too angry with Joey, is she too stubborn?**

**Back laters….**

**Thank you for all your lovely reviews… R&R as always**


	25. Chapter 25

Lauren woke up with a terrified yell Friday morning, she was covered in a light sheen of sweat and her heart was pounding loudly in her chest, the remnants of a nightmare clinging to the corners of her mind. She frowned and climbed out of bed heading towards the bathroom. The dream had something to do with Lauren being chased by a giant box of confetti as she tried to get into the church to tell Joey that she loved him. Every time she had looked behind her the box of confetti had gained on her, when she looked forward the church had someone how moved further away from her and somehow Lucy's cackling laughter seemed to be echoing around the church yard in surround sound.

She flushed the toilet and then started the shower and she stripped off her t-shirt (one of Joey's that she hadn't returned) and stepped into the soothing water. She took her time in the shower, washing her hair and then herself. She stayed in the shower until the water ran cold and she stepped out of the shower, turning it off and wrapping a towel around herself. She thought about making breakfast and then decided that she would treat herself to a breakfast at the café.

Twenty minutes later she was seated in the café a large plate of pancakes in front of her, alongside some scrambled eggs, she took a sip of coffee and she picked up her knife and fork and started eating.

She thought about the things that Uncle Derek has said to her, that she and Joey were running away. Maybe he was right, maybe they were. Joey had obviously changed his mind and was still going to marry Lucy. She was right, he was suffering from cold feet. She smiled sadly shaking her head.

She knew that she and Joey needed to talk, even if it was just to clear the air between them once and for all before they went their separate ways. She still felt that it was Joey's responsibility to call of the wedding not hers and she would tell him so and she would wish him all the best in the future, that she hoped that he had a happy marriage to Lucy, that she hoped that one day that they could be friends again, maybe even write to each other if he wanted to.

She crossed the square and she stood outside his house and she took a deep breath, she raised her hand and she knocked on the door. There was no answer, she stepped back from the street and saw his bedroom curtains were closed, as were the curtains downstairs. Looking behind her she saw his car parked on the street, she knew he was in, she raised her hand and she knocked again a little harder and a little louder.

**AN: So what do you think is going to happen when she goes to see Joey? **

**Be interested in our thoughts. **

**Thanks for the reviews and as always R&R**


	26. Chapter 26

Joey woke up on Friday morning, the eve before the wedding. He was going to have dinner with Lucy that night. She had wanted them to spend some time alone together before the big day tomorrow.

Joey just wanted to get drunk.

Hell he was still a little drunk from the night before.

His parents had called him over and said that they wanted to speak to him. And then had proceeded to tell him how disappointed that they were with him, for not telling him that he had got Lauren pregnant, or that she had miscarried the baby.

His mother had taken him to one side after his father had told him that he was clearly wasting his breath on him and that he was washing his hands of the whole situation, and declared that he was going to the pub and would be back when he felt like it.

'Joey, honey' she had said to him 'I thought we raised you better than this?'

'I know you did, but I don't know what to do. Lauren won't talk to me'

'Do you blame her?' Rose asked him

'No' he said shaking his head 'Not entirely' he sighed 'I know I shouldn't have said what I did but she could have given me something in return, she could have told me that she loves me, anything' he said

'You hurt her' Rose said 'She's licking her wounds, she's scared that you will hurt her again'

'Well I can't make it up to her if she won't talk to me can I?' Joey frowned at his mother 'I don't know what else I can do. It's too hard'

'Love isn't supposed to be easy' Rose told him 'You have to work at it'

Joey looked at his mother and she took a deep breath 'Doesn't it usually take two?' he frowned at her 'Lucy loves me'

'But you don't love her'

'Maybe I will if I give it a chance, if I can get Lauren out of my head'

'So you would rather be in a loveless marriage than attempt to have a relationship with the girl that you claim to love?' Rose asked him

'I could love Lucy given time'

'You should be in love with her now Joey' Rose said 'You're supposed to be getting married in two days'

'I thought I was… maybe I am and I just don't realise it because my head is all screwed up. Maybe Lauren was right maybe this is just cold feet'

'Do you think it's just cold feet?'

'I don't know' Joey snapped at her 'maybe' he walked over to the window and he looked out 'I don't know'

'What about if you and Lucy had children?'

'Oh what did Lauren tell you that I got Lucy pregnant too?' Joey frowned at his mother

'You did what?' Rose exclaimed 'Did you not learn your lesson about using contraceptives with Lauren!' she frowned at him 'I no idea that you were this irresponsible' she threw her hands in the air 'Does your father know about this? Do her parents? Oh my god my son is having a shot gun wedding!'

'She's isn't pregnant now. She told me that she miscarried when she went to Spain to see her parents to tell them that I had proposed'

'You proposed because she was pregnant!?'

'I was doing the right thing, Owning up to my responsibilities'

'You couldn't have done that when Lauren was pregnant?' she crossed over the room and poured herself a scotch and she drank it all down in one go and out the glass down. Joey looked at her his eyes wide, 'Do you see what you are doing to us? Your father and I are drinking more and more because of this mess that you have gotten yourself into'

'I know it's a mess' Joey said to her 'Do you think that I don't know just how fucking screwed up this is. Fuck mum I don't know what to do here!'

'You can stop using that language in my house for a start' she scolded him, she sighed and she let out a deep breath and tried a different tact. 'Do you know Lauren's planning on leaving?' Rose asked him 'your father said her place is full of packing boxes, she said she was storing some things at her parents, her grandmother has sent her an open plane ticket to Australia. She plans to leave on Saturday'

'I didn't know that' Joey said shaking his head 'Maybe that's her answer, I mean if she would rather move to the other side of the world than tell me that she loves me…..'

'Can you hear yourself Joey?' Rose frowned at him 'God you are so stubborn and pig headed, just like your father!' she told him angrily 'Put yourself in Lauren's shoes. How would you feel if she was marrying Simon and she said that unless you gave her a reason not to that the wedding was still going ahead. Wouldn't you be a little pissed off? Wouldn't you think that she didn't really love you if she was still prepared to marry someone else?'

'This is different. You have no idea the times that I've woken up after spending the night with Lauren and she was gone' he frowned at her 'The times that she refused point blank to talk about what had happened between us, that she pretended to be too drunk to remember' he turned to look at her 'Do you think that she is the only one who got hurt here? She's not blameless in all of this. I don't see why I'm being made out to be the bad guy here' he looked at his mother angrily.

'That's not what I'm doing'

'Isn't it?' he asked her 'Because that's what it feels like' he told her 'Look Lauren's clearly made her choice and I've made mine. I am going to marry Lucy on Saturday whether you and dad are there or not' he told her and he stormed out of the house.

He sought solace in the bottom of a vodka bottle. He reached for it now, there was a quarter left in the bottle. He unscrewed the lid and he drank it down and then lay back against the pillows. He was out of vodka. He would need to get up and get dressed and go out of he wanted more.

He didn't move.

Even the pounding at his front door didn't make him move from his bed. There was no one that he wanted to see, to talk to, not unless they had alcohol with him, which he strongly suspected they wouldn't, so there was no point in moving.

There was only one person that he wanted to see and that was Lauren, and he knew that that Hell would have to have frozen over before she would come to his door.

Joey ignored the pounding on the door willing them to go away and leave him alone. He stayed where he was until he needed to get ready for dinner with Lucy

**AN: Joey's parent's made a last ditch effort to get Joey to see sense, but he isn't seeing any. All He's been seeing is the bottom of the vodka bottle. **

**If you read the previous chapter you know who was pounding at the door! **

**What happens next well read on to find out. **

**Back later **

**Thank you to everyone for all your reviews, including guest reviewers. Glad that you are enjoying Out of the Blue. **

**R&R as always. **


	27. Chapter 27

Lucy looked at Joey as he pushed his food around his plate.

'Are you okay?' she asked him softly, 'Joey' she called his name a little louder when he didn't answer her. He raised his head to look at her and he gave her a smile

'I'm sorry. I guess I'm not that hungry' he told her

'Guess that much be catching then. This time last week Lauren wasn't hungry, but I saw her this morning in the café and she had this huge plate of pancakes in front of her with some eggs on the side and she ate the whole lot!' Lucy exclaimed 'Not that she couldn't do with putting some weight on' she added to Joey 'she must have been starving!'

'There isn't anything that a pancake can't cure as far as Lauren is concerned' he told her 'She once went a whole month just eating pancakes' he told her with a smile 'Uncle Max and Aunt Tanya were at their wits end because she wouldn't eat anything else, on Sunday dinner dad put some vegetables and gravy on her pancakes. She still ate them'

'How old were you?'

'She was 7, I was 8' Joey said

'You and Lauren have been through a lot together' Lucy said and Joey nodded his head

'Yeah, yeah we have'

'And she's still not talking to you?' Lucy asked him

'Nope' Joey dropped his gaze back to his plate, and pushed around his spaghetti again.

'Do you want to go and talk to her?' Lucy asked him

'She doesn't want to talk to me'

'You never told me what you two were fighting about. You seemed to have made things up last Saturday'

'Yeah we did but I have big mouth so …' he shrugged as though that was a good enough explanation

'Look, it's only natural that Lauren feels as though she is being replaced as the most important person in your life and it's only natural that I am that person now. We're getting married tomorrow Joey' she said to him softly. He looked up at her and she reached across the table to take his hands in hers 'I love you Joey, and I promise that I will do everything that I can to make you happy in our marriage. My parents adore you, my whole family adores you' she continued and she looked at him 'Look I know how you feel Joey, I've had a few wobbles too over the past week' she told him

'You have?'

'Yeah of course I have, it's natural to feel scared, to have second thoughts. I mean getting married is a pretty big commitment, it's spending the rest of our lives with one person' she said to him 'To work through bad times together, to not walk away at the first sign of trouble. It's for the rest of our lives' she told him 'We don't have to move to Spain if you don't want to. If you want to stay here in Walford, to be close to your family to Lauren, then that's okay, we don't have to move, as long as you promise me that we get to visit Spain at least twice a year…'

'You'd give up your dream of living in Spain to stay here with me?' Joey asked her

'Yes' she nodded 'Compromise is the key to a good marriage' Lucy said 'my dad told me that' she smiled at him 'He said that I wasn't being fair on you insisting that we move to Spain because that was what I wanted. I know that you weren't keen on the idea, but I was jealous of how close you and Lauren were ….and I wanted to put some distance between the two of you so you would pay more attention to me'

Joey licked his lips and he looked down at Lucy's hands clasping his 'Well Lauren's doing that anyway. She's going to Australia' he told her 'She leaves tomorrow. Instead of my best friend being at my wedding she will be on a plane taking her to the other side of the world'

'Wow. You really must have pissed her off?'

'Like I said I have a big mouth and at time I have been known to fully insert both feet into it' he told her with a sigh

'Why don't you go and see her hey?' Lucy said 'Clear the air before tomorrow? Apologise for whatever you said to her. You and Lauren have been friends for your whole lives. You can't throw that away over a stupid argument' she told him softly. 'Why don't we skip dessert and I'll drop you off at Lauren's?' she asked him

'You'd do that?' Joey asked her surprised 'you don't like Lauren'

'Yes of course I would and it's not that I don't like Lauren, I just don't know her that well' she told him 'look, whatever you two argued about its obviously upset you both' she said 'and tomorrow, you both take a big step into the next chapter of your lives. You can't leave things that way that they are or you are just going to regret not saying those three little words that can make everything okay' she said to him

'What words?' Joey frowned at her

'I'm sorry Lauren' she replied

Joey smiled and he nodded 'Thanks' he said to her 'for understanding' he told her

'I don't want to see you unhappy. I love you Joey'

He licked his lips and he smiled at her 'I love you' he told her

Joey watched Lucy drive off as Lauren walked out of her flat, she was dressed up and she looked stunning, she was obviously on her way out. She faltered on the steps when she saw him and then seemed to compose herself as she walked down the rest of the steps.

'Hi' Joey said softly

'Hi' Lauren replied

'You're on your way out?'

'Er yeah, going out to dinner with mum and dad and Abi and Jay' she said to him 'I was just heading over to their now' she told him

'You look great' he said to her

'Thank you. Mum said that she worried about me, looking tired, losing a little weight so I thought I would make a little extra effort to show her that I am fine' she told him

'Well it worked' he told her with a smile 'Can I walk you to your parent's'

'Sure' Lauren nodded and she looked at him

'Look, I wanted to say that I'm sorry' he told her as they walked 'I shouldn't have given you an ultimatum like that'

'Forget about it. Water under the bridge' Lauren said to him softly 'I told you it was cold feet' she glanced at Joey and they stopped walking as they reached her parent's house 'I mean it was cold feet wasn't it?' she asked him 'The wedding is still going ahead tomorrow?'

Joey swallowed and he looked down briefly at his feet and kicked at a stone 'Yeah, yeah I guess it was' he nodded 'I wish you were going to be there tomorrow'

'After what I said about Lucy I think it's probably best if I'm not' she told Joey softly. 'But I hope it all goes to plan and I'm sure that you and Lucy will be happy together' she said 'I'll miss you… when you go to Spain' she told him

'You'll be too busy having fun in Australia' he told her 'dad told me' he said off her confused expression.

'Oh right of course' she said and she bit her bottom lip 'Did he tell you anything else?'

Joey looked at her knowing what she was talking about but deciding that he wasn't going to admit to it, he shook his head 'Nope' he told her

'Come on lauren! We're going to be late!' they heard Max yell from the car, neither of them had even heard them come out of the house, it made them both jump.

Lauren laughed and looked down 'Well I better go so..' she said to him

'Yeah yeah…so are we okay now?' he asked her

'Yeah we're okay' she said to him 'maybe in a few months or so we could write to each other? If you wanted to' she said to him 'I can fill in you in on the gossip here or in Australia, and you can tell me about life in Spain'

Joey nodded and he looked at her 'I'd like that' he told her with a smile 'You take care of yourself okay?'

'You too' she replied with a smile

'Lauren! Come on!' Max yelled through the car window and he sounded the horn.

Joey laughed 'Go' he told her 'I'll see you later' he told her

She nodded and smiled back at him 'Yeah I'll see you later' she said and she surprised him and gave him a quick hug and a kiss on the cheek and then hurried away towards the car.

Joey waved as she drove passed and then walked over to his house and let himself in.

Tomorrow he was marrying Lucy.

**AN: Let me know your thoughts. **

**Thanks for all your reviews**

**R&R as always **


	28. Chapter 28

Joey stood nervously at the alter waiting for Lucy. He looked at his father and he nodded his head and gave him smile. Joey had never felt this nervous before, he also felt a little nauseous, and he had to go outside the church to get some fresh air, his father had gone with him and told him once more that it wasn't too late for Joey to call the wedding off. Joey had told his father that he had made his decision and that was final. His father had nodded and gave him an envelope and told Joey it was a little extra something for the honeymoon.

So now after his bout of nausea was over he was back in the church. He wished so badly that Lauren was here but he also knew that if she were here and he looked into her face that he wouldn't be able to stand in front of their family and friends, and Lucy's and make the vows that he was about to make. He felt himself having another wobble and before he could do anything about it, the music that signalled the bride was here started up. Joey's hands began to sweat and Peter had nudged him to make him stand forward a bit more.

Joey turned to watch his future wife as she walked up the aisle. She looked gorgeous and so happy. He took a deep breath and clenched his fits together and then wiped his hands on his suit pants. Lucy reached his side and her father kissed her cheek and then nodded at Joey. Joey smiled and took Lucy's hand from his and then kissed her cheek

'You look amazing' he told her softly. Lucy smiled at him and she squeezed his arm. 'Let's get married' he said

Back in Walford Lauren was packing her bags, she made sure that she had her passport and tickets in her handbag, she had already checked it 6 times. She glanced at the clock, the wedding would have just started, and in an hour or an hour and a half Joey would be married. Her heart sputtered in her chest as that though ran through her head. She frowned and shook her head and carried on with packing. She looked at the T-shirt that she slept in. It was Joey's favourite and he had loaned it to her on a permanent basis, with the clause that if he wanted to wear it she had to give it to him. He had never asked to wear it. She swallowed and put it in her bag and zipped it up. She carried the bag to the door and she put it down next to the other two. She couldn't think of anything else to pack. Her mind wondered to Joey. Her heart fluttered again as she thought about him. Her eyes darted to the clock and her heart began to race.

'Shit!' she exclaimed and she grabbed her handbag and her keys and she rushed out of the flat. She had to get to the church. She had to tell Joey that she loved him. Yes she had crappy timing and no doubt he would be really really pissed off about that but she had to tell him. Then if he still decided to go ahead and tell Lucy then she would know that it was over before it really even began.

She was grateful for her dad for insisting on lending her a car to drive to the airport. He had said he would pick it up later. She dropped the car keys three times before she even managed to unlock the car, another twice more when she was trying to get the keys into the ignition.

'Jesus Lauren get a grip here!' she scolded herself. She got the car started and pulled out of the square, she hit every single red light possible and she cursed and cried and hit the steering wheel in frustration. She glanced at the clock and her eyes filled with tears, she was cutting things fine.

Her tires squealed as she pulled to a stop outside the church. She checked her reflection in the mirror, she pulled a tissue out of her handbag and wiped the mascara that had run down her face and ran her fingers through her hair to try and straighten it out a little. She took a few deep breaths and she got out of the car and she ran up the shingled path to the church, she didn't take any notice of the coloured pebbles underneath her feet.

Lauren crept into the church, her hand hovered over the interior door handle, willing herself to open it. Willing herself to go inside and declare her love for Joey. She was scared, scared of making a scene, scared that he would once again reject her, this time publicly. She knew that it wouldn't be any less than she deserved after all the times she had rejected him. She took a breath and she closed her eyes, egging herself on. She had one more chance to be with Joey and after today there wouldn't be anymore.

He would be married.

Married to Lucy Beale of all people.

He didn't love Lucy he loved her, of that she was sure. He was just settling for Lucy. But Lauren was certain of one thing, she wouldn't be his mistress not matter how much she loved him. She wouldn't be that girl.

She steeled herself against the fall out that would come when she made her declaration of love for the groom. She opened the door and went inside. The church was empty. She blinked, she was sure she had the right church the right time. She looked around and she saw the yellow and green flowers and silks hanging off the ends of the rows of seats. This was Lucy's colour theme, she knew that she had the right church.

'Can I help you miss?' she heard someone ask from behind her.

'I'm…The Beale/Branning wedding?' she asked as she turned around and saw an old man standing behind her

'It's all over' he told her 'About fifteen minutes ago'

'Oh' Lauren said and she couldn't help the tears that ran down her cheeks 'Thank you' she told him before running out of the church. She looked around and saw stone floor and realised that the coloured pebbles that she had seen on her way in was actually pebbles covered with confetti, she crouched down and scooped some of it into her hands 'Oh god. Joey…' she whispered softly. She let the confetti fall through her fingers, watching as the little coloured paper shapes fluttered down to the ground. The little old man had followed her out.

'Are you all right miss?' he asked her

'Yeah. I'm fine' she told him and she stood up and walked slowly to her car. Once inside she covered her face with her hands and she sobbed. He had gone through with it, he had married Lucy. It was over. She had lost the only man that she had ever really loved because she was stupid and stubborn and refused to admit the feelings that she had for him, even when he had confronted her about them a week earlier. When he had asked her to give him a reason not to marry Lucy.

She was too late.

**AN: Thank you for all your reviews. **

**As always R&R. **


	29. Chapter 29

Lauren sat in her car for twenty minutes sobbing her heart out.

She had got there too late.

Joey had married Lucy.

He had actually gone ahead and married Lucy.

She hoped that he was happy.

She had to see if he was happy.

She had to see it for her own eyes and then she would leave, she would go to Australia and she would put Joey behind her and she would start afresh in a new country, in a new continent. Maybe in time it would hurt less and she and Joey would be able to be friends again. She didn't know how much time it would take or if she would even be ready to be friends with him again. She started the car and she drove towards the Mayfair Hotel. She pulled into the car park and she looked at her reflection again in the mirror. She frowned when she saw her face. She routed around in her bag for the tissues and pulled them out. She wiped her face clean and then pulled out her compact and put some powder on. She knew that she didn't need much make up, her father had said she was a natural beauty, she looked at herself in the mirror again and satisfied that she looked less of a mess than she did before, she climbed out of the car.

She made her way to the main doors of the hotel and she looked around, she walked to the front desk.

'Excuse me can you tell me where the Beale/Branning reception is please?'

'Yes of course. Just through your double doors to your right, follow the corridor down to your left and they are in the Sunset Ballroom'

'Of course they are' Lauren sighed 'Thank you' she gave the clerk a smile and she went to find the room. It didn't take her long to find the Sunset ballroom. She didn't go inside, the doors were closed but she could just about see through the frosted window. She looked around, she saw one of the bridesmaids, and she thought that it might be Whitney. She saw her dad and then she scanned the room and she saw Joey standing at the bar, next to Derek and Rose, she turned to go and saw a couple of wedding guests, she froze as she heard them talking

'They looked so happy….' one of them said

'She looked so beautiful in her dress….' the other said as they opened the door and went inside the ballroom.

Lauren licked her lips and she felt her eyes fill with tears again, she wiped them away with the back of her hand and she turned and she fled for the exit, unaware that she had been seen by her father, and Joey's parents.

She made her way out to her car and she felt her tears rising again, she frowned and ran her fingers through her hair and a piece of confetti fell out. She started the car and she started to drive. She drove back to Walford and parked outside her flat, she grabbed her suitcases and she carried them down to the car, she got them in the boot and she locked up her flat and she drive towards the airport. The next flight to Australia was at 7:00pm, she checked the clock on the wall, and she had an hour to wait. She checked in and had her luggage scanned and she put her cases on the conveyor belt for them to be loaded onto the plane and she sat down and she waited for the flight to be called.

Lauren pulled out her phone and she dialled a number that she knew by heart, the call went to voicemail.

She closed her eyes as she heard his voice, her heart breaking 'Hi this is Joey, please leave a message'

'Joey it's me' she said 'I..I know that I shouldn't be doing this, not after you married Lucy, but I need to tell you and maybe that's selfish of me I don't know, but you need to know that I came to the church, I came to tell you that I was sorry for being so stubborn, but I was too late, I was too late to tell you ….. To tell you that I love you Joseph Branning. I love you.. I'm sorry I… I shouldn't have called…I'm sorry' she hung up and she closed her eyes and she let the tears roll down her cheeks.

"Flight 667 to Australia is boarding at gate 9' she heard her flight being called. She got up and pulled out her boarding pass and she picked up her carry-on bag. She looked around to see where gate 9 was and once she had found it she walked towards it. She joined the queue to board the plane, she was about to hand her documents over when she heard her name over the PA system.

'Lauren Branning can you please go to the red courtesy phone, Lauren Branning can you please go the red courtesy phone' she heard. Lauren frowned and she asked the man behind the counter where the nearest red courtesy phone was. He pointed over her shoulder, she nodded and she stepped out of the line and she walked over to it.

'Hello? Lauren Branning speaking'

'Lauren! Thank god!' she heard her father's voice on the phone

'Dad! What's wrong?' she asked him 'Is mum okay?' she frowned when she heard muffled voices in the background

'Yes, yeah you're mum is fine' he said 'I thought I might have missed you. You didn't answer your phone'

'I'm just about to board the plane dad' she told him 'What's wrong?'

'Nothing's wrong, I just… I didn't want you to go without talking to you.' He told her 'you know how much I am going to miss you' he said to her

'I know dad' she said softly, 'I'm going to miss you too'

'You know they have spiders over there a big as your hand…. I bet you will be on the next flight home when you see one of them'

'I'm not the one afraid of spiders dad that's you' she smiled

'These ones you will be, they're big enough to tie you up and drag you off to the outback'

'I'm going to Melbourne dad' she said smiling and shaking her head

'There still some outback near there' he told her, she heard voices in the back ground again.

'Who's that?'

'Your mother she wants me to tell you to make sure that you put on a lot of sunscreen and to wear a hat. She wants you to say hello to her mother for her'

'Tell mum I will and tell her to stop worrying' she said 'And tell Oscar I'll bring him back a toy Koala and toy Kangaroo'

'You are planning on coming back then?' he asked her, she fell quiet and she sighed

'Not for a while' she replied

'So longer than the two weeks you told us then?'

'A few months at least' she said to him. This time Max went quiet 'dad?'

'I love you, you know that right?'

'Yes I know. I love you too dad' she said through her tears

Her flight was announced again 'Is that your flight?' he asked her 'Gate 9 huh, you know what they say about gate 9'

'Dad, now is not the time for one of your jokes about planes. Not when I have to be on for over 20 hours'

'Yeah yeah you're right' he said and he laughed softly. 'You have a safe flight okay? You call us when you land and again when you get to Cora's. She is picking you up from the airport isn't she?'

'Yes dad she is' she said 'I've got to go'

'Okay darling. You take care and we'll see you soon, talk to you sooner?'

'Yeah I will and I promise as soon as I land I will call you' she said to him 'Bye dad

'Bye Lauren' he said softly, she hung up the phone and she took a deep breath and for what seemed like the millionth time that day she wiped the tears from her face. She turned and she walked back to gate 9. She joined the back of the queue, she checked her handbag for her boarding pass and frowned when she couldn't find it. She knew that she had it when she was here the first time, she knew she had it when she was on the phone.

'Shit' she swore under her breath. She must have left it on the side when she was talking to her dad, she turned and made her way back to the phone and she saw someone was standing there, their back was to Lauren, and they were leaning on her boarding pass with their elbow. She reached out and tried to tug it out from under their arm, but she was afraid of ripping it.

'Excuse me' she said softly, she got no response, 'Excuse me' she said a little louder this time.

Her eyes widened as they turned around and she saw who had been leaning on her boarding pass.

'What are you doing here?' she frowned

**AN: Do you think Lauren was right in leaving that message for Joey? Knowing that he had just got married? Was that selfish? Should she have just let it go and leave him be? **

**Who's leaning on her boarding pass? **

**Want to know who it is? Well you are going to have to wait for the next chapter to find out aren't you? **

**Thank you for you all your reviews so far. **

**As always R&R. **


	30. Chapter 30

'Hello to you too' he said

'Uncle Jack I don't mean to be rude, but my flight is boarding and I just talked to my dad on the phone and … why are you here?'

'Well I'm here to pick up the car aren't I?' he asked her 'You didn't leave the keys where you said you would so as Max's mobile was busy I called Tanya and it turned out that Max was on the phone to you and I heard him say gate 9 so I thought I would come and see if I could find you before you boarded to get the car keys, so that I could pick up the car and take it back to the car lot'

She frowned 'Oh' she said and he put her hand in her pocket and she pulled out the car keys 'Sorry' she said as she held them out to him

'Thank you' he told her with a smile, he frowned at her 'have you been crying?'

'Just talked to dad on the phone' she replied to him 'He got a bit soppy and sentimental you know how he does sometimes' she shrugged

'Right of course. He said and he looked over her shoulder 'Right well you have a safe trip then and make sure you send us a post card and I'll see you when you get back okay' he said and she nodded

'Okay' she replied. He pulled her into a hug and kissed the top of her head

'You take care and have a good time okay?'

'I will' she nodded. She watched him leave with a confused frown, she picked up her boarding pass and once again re-joined the queue for gate 9.

She waited patiently whilst the people four places ahead of her got into a heated argument with the airport staff about their seats not being together, the poor woman tried to explain that there were only 3 seats per row and that the fourth seat was next to the first 3 seats just on the other side of the aisle but this didn't seem to placate them. She drifted off into a world of her own and physically jumped when she felt someone touch her arm.

'Sorry Miss' a member of the airport staff told her 'I didn't mean to startle you'

'I'm sorry I was miles away' she told him with an apologetic smile, she looked at the queue in front of her and realised that it had moved 'Oh I'm sorry am I holding up the line' she said to him

'Yes Miss' he nodded

She turned to apologise to the passengers behind her, 'I'm so sorry' she told them 'I was already on the beach' she said with a smile

A few of the passengers smiled back at her in agreement, but a few of them grumbled and told her to "Move her fucking arse along!' she turned and she moved forward to the front of the queue.

She handed her boarding pass over and then made her way down the terminal to the plane. She smiled when she was welcomed on board and directed to her seat. She was in economy. She frowned as she saw how cramped she would be for the next 20 hours. She sighed and she took her seat which was next to a very large man who looked sweaty and a teenage boy of about 15. She stowed her carry-on bag in the compartment above her row of seats and she sat down.

She wrinkled her nose as she smelt the sweaty man next to her. Twenty hours was going to seem a lot longer.

Lauren watched a three children got on the plane followed by their parents, her pleas to God that the kids were not going to sit behind her went unanswered, as she felt her seat being kicked every thirty seconds or so.

Lauren waited as patiently as she could for the last of the passengers to board the plane and for the plane to taxi to the runway. She heard a hushed conversation at the front of her section and she looked up to see a couple of people looking towards her. They exchanged glances and then nodded and the air hostess walked over to her.

'Miss Branning?' she asked her pleasantly

'Yes' Lauren nodded and she swallowed

'It would appear that your ticket has been upgraded to first class, if you would like to follow me please?'

'Upgraded when?'

'I don't know Miss Branning'

'Are you sure?'

'Yes the upgraded ticket matches your seat number' she told her 'Please follow me' she repeated.

Lauren got up grateful to be moving away from stinky sweaty man and the annoying seat kickers behind her, the air hostess retrieved her bag from the overhead compartment and Lauren followed her through economy through to first class.

'Here we are Miss Branning' she said with a smile 'Can I get you some champagne or any other refreshment?'

'Could I have an orange juice please?'

'Certainly'

Lauren made herself comfortable in her seat and she smiled as she stretched her legs out in front of her.

'Here you are' a champagne glass of orange juice as set down beside Lauren, 'Can I get you anything else?'

'No thank you' Lauren smiled at her 'Um, is there anyone in the seat beside me?' she asked her

'Yes there is, I believe that he's making use of the facilities' she replied 'Anything else that I can do for you Miss Branning?'

'No thank you'

'Well if I can be of any further assistance you press that little red button here' she smiled at her

'Thank you' Lauren smiled. She picked up her glass and she drank it down.

The seat next to her remained empty, even when the seatbelt sign came on. Lauren hated the taking off and landing part of flying. Whenever she had gone on a plane with Joey she held his hand so tight he reckoned that she had crushed all the bones. She felt a pang and she closed her eyes, mentally telling herself for remembering something that would make her feel bad. She secured her seatbelt and then leant her head back against her seat. Closing her eyes again and trying to remember how to breathe. Usually Joey would be there telling her to breathe in and breathe out. She felt movement next to her and heard the sound of a seat belt clicking into place. She kept her eyes tightly shut as she felt the plane start to move as it taxied towards the runway, this part she didn't mind so much, when the plane started to gather speed she could cope with, well just about, the part where it started to take off….not so much. She could feel the gaze of the person next to her, she knew that she was being rude but right now she had to concentrate on breathing or they may be an medical emergency on board the plane.

Once the plane was in the air and was horizontalish, she started to relax, but she didn't open her eyes until she heard the crew announce that seatbelts could be removed and that they could move freely around the cabin. Lauren opened her eyes and he saw the sign for the rest rooms. She got up and made her way towards them, taking her handbag with her. She used the facilities and then washed her hands. She exited the room and looked round the cabin as she made her way back to her seat. She sat down and she took a deep breath and she licked her lips. She suddenly remembered her companion, she felt his gaze on her again and she turned her head to look at him. She blinked a few times, not believing what she was seeing. Who she was seeing.

'Hi' he said with a smile, his eye settled on something on her head and he reached out and he plucked something out of her hair and he held it in his fingers, she looked at it and she saw that it was a pink piece of confetti. 'Been to a wedding?' he asked her casually

Lauren blinked at him 'Yes. Yours' she replied 'What are you doing here Joey?'

**AN: Hands up all of you who thought it was Joey leaning on her boarding pass! Bet you didn't expect it to be Uncle Jack did you?**

**Well hope the end of this chapter made up for it**

**Thank you once again for all your reviews**

**As always R&R **


	31. Chapter 31

Joey looked at her 'Flying to Australia' he replied 'First class' she said as he looked around the cabin.

'I can see that but why?' she frowned at him 'You're supposed to be going to Hawaii for your honeymoon. Oh god please tell me that you didn't change your honeymoon to Australia!'

'Something like that yeah' he nodded, Lauren tore her gaze away from Joey and her eyes frantically searched the cabin looking for Lucy, frowning in more confusion when she couldn't see her.

'Where's Lucy?' she asked him turning her tearful gaze back on Joey

'Lucy isn't here' he told her softly 'She's back in Walford or on a plane to Spain I imagine' he told her 'I don't know'

'Oh god no!' Lauren burst into tears and she covered her face with her hands 'I didn't want this Joey! I shouldn't have left that voice mail, I just…I was upset and I called you and I left the voicemail …' she looked up at him 'As soon as I left it I regretted it….. I mean not what I said….I would never regret that but I shouldn't have said anything I should have just left… I was too late when I got to the church and I ..'

'You went to the church?' he asked her and she nodded

'But I was too late, the ceremony was over and there was confetti all over the place outside' she told him, Joey reached out and he brushed her tears away with his knuckles gently. 'Oh god Joey you have to get off the plane! You have to go back to Lucy, to your wife' she told him crying harder now.

'Ssh babe' he said softly 'Its okay, come here' he told her as he pulled her easily onto his lap, his hand rubbed her back gently as she cried against his chest. She clung to him tightly as he soothed her tears. When she had calmed down a little she pulled back to look at him

'Joey I don't understand….I went to the church and then I went to the reception… I don't know why I just.. I wanted to see that you were happy..and I saw you at the bar with Derek and Rose and I ...Joey you shouldn't have come' she told him softly, she traced his cheek with her fingers, her thumb brushed over his lips 'oh god what have I done? I didn't want you to do this…I am such a selfish cow…that stupid voicemail'

'I didn't get a voicemail' he told her softly shaking his head 'I forgot to charge my phone and the batteries dead'

Lauren blinked at him 'What?'

'You left me a voice mail?' he asked her and she nodded her head, her tears still falling 'what did it say?'

'You … you didn't hear it?' she asked him

'No' he shook his head and he pulled his phone out of his pocket and he handed it to her, she tried to turn it on but it wouldn't work. 'See' he told her

'You're not here because you heard the voice mail?' she asked him

'No' he shook his head and he smiled at her and he wiped away some more of her tears 'I'm here because I love you Lauren and I want to be with you' he sighed 'Look' he said and he held up his left hand, Lauren frowned and she looked at his hand not sure what she was supposed to be looking for. She took his hand in hers and she looked at it

'What?' she frowned at him in confusion.

'There's no wedding ring' he told her 'I didn't marry Lucy…I'm not married Lauren'

'What?' she echoed again, her brain too confused to absorb what he was telling her.

'I couldn't do it' he told her shaking her head 'I saw Lucy walking down the aisle and I thought that I could…..but I was wrong, I was kidding myself to think that I could settle for being with Lucy when all I wanted was you. I should have called it off sooner and I sure as hell shouldn't have given you that ultimatum and I'm so sorry baby, I hope you can forgive me for being such a stupid stubborn idiot'

'You…. You didn't get married?' she asked him in amazement

'No' he shook his head 'There's only one girl that I want to spend the rest of my life with and that's you' Lauren licked her lips and she looked at Joey

'Me?' she asked him

'Yes. You.' he said and he cupped her face in his hands 'haven't you been listening to me Lauren, I love you' he told her softly 'I am so madly, deeply and crazy head over heels in love with you. I have been since I was I was 14 years old' he said to her. Lauren burst into tears again 'oh baby don't cry' he said and he drew her into his arms again.

'I thought I was too late….I thought that I lost you...' she sobbed against his neck 'Joey…oh Joey….' He held her whilst she cried,

'Ssh its okay I'm right here' he whispered against her hair. The events of the day had obviously taken its toll on her and she'd cried herself to sleep in his arms. Not that Joey minded, she was where she belonged. He knew that they had a lot to talk about but they had a 20 hour flight and she wouldn't sleep for that long.

He hoped.

In the meantime he would settle for just holding her in his arms.

**AN: So I hope that this was what you were all waiting for?  
Back later**

**Thanks for your all your reviews**

**R&R as always **


	32. Chapter 32

Lauren slept for 8 hours straight, as reluctant as Joey was he put her back in her seat and reclined it so she would be more comfortable. He reclined his own seat and he dozed on and off for a few of the last hours Lauren slept. She woke up and she frowned wondering where she was. It took her a few minutes to realise that she was on the plane to Australia. She wondered how long she had been asleep for, she groaned rubbing her face with her hands.

She suddenly remembered Joey.

She turned to the seat beside her and she saw it was empty. She sighed, she'd dreamt that Joey had been on the plane with her; that he had told her that he hadn't married Lucy, and they were going to Australia together. Trust her mind to play a cruel joke on her. As if she didn't feel bad enough.

She got up with her handbag and headed for the bathroom to freshen up a little. She used the toilet and splashed a little water on her face. She pulled her brush out of her bag and she ran it through her hair, little bits of confetti fell out of her hair and she turned on the tap in the sink and watched as they washed down the drain. She pulled out her toothbrush and toothpaste and she cleaned her teeth and then rinsed her mouth. Exiting the bathroom she made her way back to her seat and she saw someone sitting in the previously vacant one beside hers. He looked up at her as she drew closer.

It was Joey.

She hadn't dreamt it.

It was real.

He was here.

Joey was here on the plane with her.

Joey.

'Hello sleepyhead' he said to her softly as she sat down

'You're really here?' she half asked him

'Yes I'm really here' he nodded

'I thought I dreamt it all' she said quietly

He shook his head 'You didn't'

'How long have I been asleep?'

'About 8 hours' he replied 'you must have been tired'

'Yeah I didn't sleep well last night, I haven't really been sleeping well full stop, and I've been working longer hours, picking up new clients so that I could pay your parents back'

'Oh yeah about that' he said and he reached into his tuxedo pocket and he pulled out an envelope and he handed it to her. 'Dad gave it to me when I was throwing up outside the church' he told him. 'He just told me that it was something extra for the honeymoon' he told her as he pressed the call button 'I didn't know what it was until later….' He trailed off as Lauren opened the envelope. She could hear him ordering some food and drinks for the both of them,

'Dear Son

If you are reading this then you have come to your senses and you have called off the wedding to Lucy (talk about last minute).

Enclosed in the envelope you will find a ticket to Australia.

And for God's sake, make sure the first thing you do is to apologise to the girl!

Have fun in Australia. A few Australian Dollars are also enclosed, they may come in handy. Put them to good use.

We've booked you into the Langham Hotel for a week, we figured you and Lauren could use some time alone before you visit Cora.

Take care.

I'm proud of you son.

Give our to love to Lauren, see you both soon.

Love Dad and Mum xxxx

PS. PLEASE USE CONTRACEPTIVES! "

Lauren blushed at the last line and she gasped as she saw that there was $10,000 Australia dollars. She gave the letter back to Joey as a plate of food was put down in front of her as well as an orange juice.

Joey tucked the letter back into his pocket and then started to eat his food too.

Twenty minutes later their plates were cleared and Lauren ordered a coffee for them both 'So did Derek upgrade me to first class?'

'Yep' Joey told her with a nod of his head

'He thought we could use the privacy and the luxury' he said as she looked around.

'I thought I was going to be stuck back there with stinky sweaty man and the annoying kids that were kicking the back of my seat for the whole flight' she said and she shifted in her seat so that she was looking at him, 'I'm glad that you are here Joey. I'm even more glad that you didn't marry Lucy' she told him

'Yeah so am I' he told her and he licked his lips and he looked down 'I know that we need to talk'

'Well we have another 12 hours to do that' she said to him and he smiled and nodded 'How did you find me?'

'It wasn't easy' he told her 'I looked everywhere' he said 'I came back to the square. I went back to the church. Checked your flat again and then someone said that they'd seen you packing your cases into the boot so I figured that you were on your way to the airport, trouble was I didn't know which one. I checked Heathrow airport, Max called Stansted and Gatwick. Uncle Jack and dad were in the car with me and we raced here, hoping that we weren't too late. Max was supposed to keep you talking for longer than he did so I could sneak onto the plane…' he said and he looked at her 'I figured if we were going to fight then the best place would be up in the air on a long haul flight where neither of us could leave' he told her

'You thought we were going to fight?' she asked him

'Lately I'm not sure what we will end up doing' he admitted to her 'Fight, have a civil conversation….'

'I'm glad that we are not fighting' she said and she reached across his seat and she took his hand in hers, she played with his fingers

'Well there's still time ain't there?' he asked her 'We've got another 12 hours to go in an enclosed space so …' he said teasingly 'So what did this voice mail say then?' he asked her

She looked up and he watched a slow smile spread across her face 'well, you'll have to wait until you've charged your phone won't you?' she replied

Joey shook his head and rolled his eyes 'I knew that you were going to say that' he said to her with a laugh as she shifted in his seat so he closer to her. He watched her playing with his fingers.

Lauren laughed with him and when he was certain that she wasn't going to answer his question, she did.

'I love you' she said quietly

Joey's heart soared.

**AN: Some of you seem to bit a little bit confused. Just to set things straight. Joey didn't marry Lucy**** Lauren didn't marry Simon. Lucy didn't marry Simon and no one had an affair! No one got married…. Joey called the wedding off at the altar.**

**Okay? Good. **

**Back later. **

**Thank you for the reviews glad that you are enjoying Out Of The Blue. **

**R&R as always**

**Okay? Good. **

**Back later. **

**Thank you for the reviews glad that you are enjoying Out Of The Blue. **

**R&R as always**


	33. Chapter 33

'I'm sorry I didn't quite catch that' Joey said with a small smile

'I love you' she repeated

'Yeah?' he asked her and he leant towards her

'Yeah I do' she told her 'I am so madly, deeply and crazy head over heels in love with you' she used his words to her from earlier

'That's good, because that's exactly how I feel about you' he whispered softly and he leant towards her to kiss her

'Is there anything else that I can get you both?' the air hostess interrupted them and they both pulled away from each other

'No thank you' Joey said shaking his head

'Okay let me know when you do' she said with a smile.

Lauren chewed on her bottom lip, she took a deep breath. 'Joey? What happened? The wedding?' she asked him 'With Lucy?'

Joey looked at her and then he straightened up in chair and he sighed

'I should have called it off earlier' he told her 'I shouldn't have let it get as far as Lucy walking down the aisle' he said with a frown 'Dad had been on at me for weeks to call everything off, but I was determined to go ahead with it. I had convinced myself that I could make it work, that you would be in Australia and I would be in Spain and that they way that I felt about you would just go away' he admitted to her 'If I didn't see you every day, talk to you every day' he said and he took a deep breath 'After my second wobble in the church I was waiting for Lucy to arrive and I started to think about you and a part of me wanted you to be there and part of my didn't, I mean if I saw you I knew that I wouldn't have been able to go through with it, I was in the middle of this when the music started and Lucy started to walk up the aisle towards me. She looked amazing, so happy and as wrong as this sounds, I wanted her to be you' he told her 'I wished that she was you' he took a breath as Lauren listened to him.

' The ceremony started and I could feel myself getting more and more panicked, my palms were sweaty and my heart was racing, I thought about you again and the thought of never seeing you anymore and it was too much. I didn't even hear the vicar talking to me, Lucy had nudged me and there was a kind of a hush all over the church, I figured the vicar had probably spoken to me more than once' Joey told her and he looked down at his fingers and he picked nail on his thumb.

Lauren looked at him as he fell silent obviously thinking about what had happened.

Joey frowned 'I told Lucy that I was sorry and that I couldn't marry her' he told her 'and then I walked out of the church, I left her at the altar' Joey took a deep breath and he let it out slowly. Her dad followed me and Peter, and Max Jack and Dad. I think her father and brother wanted to kill me. Uncle Max and Uncle Jack had to hold them back. Lucy came out and she wanted to talk' he told her 'We went for a walk around the churchyard and I told her the truth about the way that I felt about you. I told her that we slept together on my stag night, I told her that I had been in love with you since I was a kid and that I was so sorry for hurting her, I do care about Lucy' Joey looked up at Lauren

Lauren nodded 'I know you do' she said softly 'I bet she hates me'

'No' Joey said 'She doesn't hate me either' she told her sounding surprised. 'I thought she was going to yell at me, hit me, call me names..'

'You're getting her confused with me' Lauren said softly, Joey smiled and he laughed and he rubbed his cheek remembering the slap that Lauren had given him

'Yeah, that's a pretty mean slap that you have'

'I've been told that before… I'm really sorry that I hit you' she told him and he eyes fell to his cheek

'I deserved it' he admitted to her 'for all the crap that I've put you through' he said to her

'That's true' Lauren grinned with a nod of her head

Joey moved in his seat again so he could face her. 'Anyway, Lucy said that she had a suspicion that there was more to us then just friends, and that she was glad that I called things off, she was a little annoyed that I waited until the actual wedding to do it, which I agree was a pretty crappy thing to do. She told me that she just wanted me to be happy even if that meant that it wasn't with her. We agreed that the reception should go ahead, I mean we spent a lot of money on the food, the venue….it seemed stupid to let it all go to waste' he said 'I apologised a lot and she asked me what was I going to do next' he licked his lips 'I said that I needed to find you and she replied with "Well what are you doing standing here talking to me then you idiot?" ' he said and Lauren laughed a little, she realised that she had been a little too harsh with her opinion of Lucy but she also realised that part of that was because she was jealous. 'We went back to the church and she told her brother and father that the wedding was off and that they were to tell everyone to go to the reception' he told her. 'Dad told me to look at the envelope that he had given me earlier and that I needed to go and find you. Lucy told me to take the wedding car so I went back to the Square to try and find you' he said to her. 'And the rest you know, because I found you and here I am'

Lauren looked at him and she smiled nodding her head 'Here you are' she said and she licked her lips and then she frowned. 'Wait so .. you weren't at the reception?' she asked him

'No. I was out looking for you' When I couldn't find you I went to the reception and Jack, Max and dad started to help me' Jack and dad drove me to the airport and Uncle Max and Jack distracted you so I could get on the plane' he told her softly 'I had to bribe the staff to wait to tell you that you had been upgraded so that I could surprise you' he told her

'Well you certainly did that' Lauren told him 'Next time though you should probably start the conversation off with I'm not married!' she told him half seriously 'I thought you'd done a runner!'

'Next time?' he asked her 'There isn't going to be a next time' he said to her softly 'because there's only one girl for me' he reached out and he tucked her hair behind her ear.

'Good' Lauren said to him softly. 'You look tired, why don't you get some sleep?' she told him

'I feel like I could sleep for months' he admitted to her

'You only have what is it 9 hours now so…'

'I'm glad you are here Joey' she told him softly

'Me too babe' he replied and he closed his eyes.

**AN: So that's what happened at the church. **

**Back later **

**Thanks for all your reviews**

**R&R as always **


	34. Chapter 34

After the plane had landed and they had collected their suitcases, Joey and Lauren found they had been picked up by a chauffeur drive car courtesy of Derek and they were taken to their hotel.

The walls and ceilings were marble and Lauren gasped as she saw the most elegant and elaborate staircase in her life. 'Wow!' she exclaimed as Joey checked them both in. 'This is amazing' she said as she looked around. 'I could spend weeks exploring the hotel looking at the all the architecture' she told him with a smile 'To look at all the ceilings alone could take a whole day maybe two' she said

'Well how about we start with the ceiling in our suite?' Joey murmured close to her ear, she looked at him and she blushed at the pure carnal lust in his eyes

'Joey!' she scolded him embarrassed in case the desk clerk had heard him

'What?' he asked her innocently with a grin

They went up to their room and Joey tipped the bellboy as Lauren stood awestruck in the middle of the lounge. This room was huge and had a large white sofa in the middle of the room. A large LCD television on the wall, with numerous other gadgets judging by the remote controls on the mantle. There was also a piano in the room near the window, the view out of the window distracted Lauren for a few moments.

'Oh my gosh!' she exclaimed softly, all the lights were on in the buildings outside the hotel and it looked like fireworks or fairy lights, 'The view is so beautiful' she said softly

Joey smiled as he looked at her 'Yeah it is' he said, but he wasn't looking out of the window, he was looking at her.

She suddenly darted from the room having spotted another doorway off of it.

'Joey! Come and look at the bathroom!' she exclaimed 'You can get like 8 people in the tub'

Joey smiled shaking his head as he picked up two of their cases and he carried them through to the bathroom.

'Oh and there are two gigantic showers!' she yelled out not knowing that he was I the room with her, she spun round with a frown wondering what was taking him so long, seeing him right behind her 'oh sorry' she said and she grinned at him

'This is pretty impressive' he replied but he wasn't admiring the architecture. In his mind he was envisaging having sex with Lauren in the tub, in the shower, on the tiled floor, on the vanity bench. The possibilities were endless. He smiled to himself lost in his thoughts, not realising that Lauren had moved through another door.

He put the cases down when he realised that she had gone and stepped through the second door into the bedroom.

This room was as big as the lounge. There was another sofa, albeit smaller than the one in the lounge, a log burning fire place, although why you would need a fire place in Australia, he didn't know, it was at least 90 degrees here at the moment, he glanced towards the centre piece of the room and his temperature shot up another 10 degrees. There was a large queen size four poster bed, with white satin sheets. Even more possibilities fluttered through his head.

Lauren stared at the large, huge white bed and she swallowed, feeling more than a little nervous.

'It's been a long flight' Joey said 'Do you want to freshen up?' he asked her softly

'That sounds like a good idea' she nodded and she turned to look at him. 'I feel all icky' she told him

'Go on then, I left your vanity case in the bathroom' he told her 'I'll bring the other cases through' he told her, she nodded and he left the room through another door which took him back to the lounge.

It took him three trips with their cases and he could hear Lauren in the shower, singing away to herself. He smiled and he shook his head. He spotted the air conditioning unit on the wall and he turned it on and fiddled with it until a cool breeze filled the room. He went into the bathroom, he opened his case and found his shampoo and body wash and he stripped off his clothes and he stepped into the second shower, setting the water for cool. He finished in the shower before Lauren and he wrapped a large white fluffy towel around his waist and used another to dry his hair. He looked at his reflection in the vanity mirror, deciding that he needed a shave as he ran his hand over his chin, he pulled out his razor and shaving cream.

Half way through he heard Lauren's shower stop and the shower door opened. He couldn't resist glancing at her in the mirror but found that she had already wrapped a towel around herself and was drying her hair with another towel. She sighed and she stood up straight and she looked at him in the mirror, he winked at her and she smiled at him, a faint blush on her cheeks. He concentrated back on shaving as Lauren brushed her hair through. When she was done she pulled a large robe off the back of the door and she pulled it on (with her back to him) and she removed the towel and draped it over the towel rack, they heard a knock on the door

'I'll go' Lauren told him, she swatted Joey's backside playfully as she walked passed him. He grinned at her, and then caught himself with the razor

'Ouch! Shit!' he frowned as he saw blood on his chin 'Great!'

He could hear Lauren talking to someone as he stemmed the blood with some toilet paper. Seconds later the door closed. He could hear something rattling and then it stopped.

Satisfied that he wasn't going to bleed everywhere he finished shaving and then rinsed his face carefully before dabbing it dry.

'Your dad ordered us room service' Lauren said to him as he came into the room, he saw the champagne in the bucket

'How do you know?' he asked her with a frown

'There's a note' Lauren grinned handing it to him 'It also tells you to look in the zipped part of your suitcase' she said. Joey frowned and he walked into the bathroom and he unzipped it. He reached inside, frowning when he felt some small boxes. Pulling them out he discovered that his father had packed some condoms for him. He shook his head a little embarrassed and he took them through to the bedroom 'Well what is it?' she asked him. Joey held up the boxes of condoms to her 'Oh' she blushed bright red.

'Think that they're trying to us that they think they're too young to be grandparents?' he asked her

'Either that or that we're both very irresponsible people' she replied with a grin

'Could be that' he said 'or that maybe they thought that we would get caught up in the moment and forget to be careful' he said to her softly. He licked his lips and he looked at her 'Do we need them?' he asked her

Lauren shook her head, knowing what he was asking her 'No. I'm still taking the pill' she told him, they held each other's gaze for a long moment, a heightened atmosphere of sexual tension building between them. Words weren't necessary and yet there was so much they had to say too. They had both been anticipating this moment for more years than either of them was prepared to admit. Suddenly both was terrified and excited in equal measures. Was this something they would come to regret in the morning? Joey broke the gaze first and dropped the condoms on the table he was standing near.

'Good, that's good' he nodded clearing his throat 'Not that I wouldn't, you know if you wanted me to' he gestured to the condoms

Lauren nodded 'I know… so' she said turning away from him and focussing on the silver bucket in front of her 'shall I open the champagne?' she asked him 'I could definitely drink a couple of glasses'

'Maybe later' Joey replied snaking his arms around her waist, his voice close to her ear, she shivered slightly, one minute he had been the other side of the room, and now he was standing so close behind her, managing to cross the room without a sound 'I don't about you' he whispered as he brushed her hair over her shoulder and away from her neck, he placed a soft kiss just below her ear 'but I think we should try this sober for once' he turned her round to face him and she swallowed, Joey's eyes held her as he reached for the belt of her robe and he pulled her a little closer to him, then he dropped his gaze as he undid the bow.

Lauren swallowed.

Joey didn't open her robe, even though his fingers were itching to. Instead he raised his eyes back to hers smiling when he saw that she had been watching him undo her robe. He cupped her chin with his fore finger and thumb and he gently raised it so she was looking at him. He realised that this would be the first time that had kissed without one or both of them being drunk. They had kissed on the cheek before as well as a brief chaste kiss on the lips but this time, that certainly wasn't the way that he intended on kissing her. As he moved his hand to cup her cheek, he brushed his thumb over her bottom lip. He moved forward and their lips brushed lightly against the others.

Lauren could hear her heart pounding like a freight train in her chest, she was worried that Joey would be able to hear it too, to be truthful, Joey couldn't hear anything above his own pounding heart. He pressed his lips a little firmer against hers as he slid his hand into her hair, pulling her closer to him and tilting her face upwards, his tongue tentatively tasted her top lip, before sweeping into her mouth, she gave a small moan, as her hands, that up until then had been hanging by her sides, moved to his waist and slowly slid up his chest to his wrap around his neck.

That was all that was needed to ignite the spark of attraction between them, a spark that had on occasion been fanned in sudden intense bursts but was then was allowed to fade to embers, always simmering in the background but never fully alight. Until now... now those embers had been transformed into an inferno.

By some kind of miracle they managed to get to the bed, with Lauren somehow losing her robe as Joey lost his towel in transit. They both knew this time would be different to the other times they'd been together in some ways but the same in others. This was the first time they were doing this without any influence from alcohol. There would be no denying it happened afterwards; no pretending they couldn't remember tomorrow. One similarity to many of their previous times was that this was going to be hard and fast. The time for sweet and soft lovemaking would come later... now was going to be more primal than that, as the desire and passion ignited once more and they strove to meet their needs as quickly as they could.

Joey sank inside her in one quick movement causing them both to groan in satisfaction, he began an unrelenting pace, Lauren's eyes practically rolled back into her head as he pounded into her hard, and fast touching all her intimate sensitive spots with each thrust. She felt herself quickly spiralling towards orgasm and she clutched Joey's back tightly, digging in her nails painfully, which only made him pick up his rhythm.

Lauren wrapped her legs around him, her heels digging into his ass as she arched her hips higher so he could move deeper within her. She gave a cry as the orgasm began to hit.

'Jo….Joey! Joey! JOEY!' she cried out as wave after wave of pure unadulterated pleasure rushed through her, he felt her clenching around him and he felt a familiar tingling in his balls and he knew he couldn't hold off much longer.

'Lauren!' he breathed into her neck 'LAUREN! FUCK!'

She cried out again as she felt him pulse inside her and then he came harder than he could ever remember coming.

A few minutes later they were both lying on their backs not touching each other, both of them gasping in lungful's of much needed air.

'That was definitely worth waiting for' Joey said between breaths

'Yeah' Lauren agreed with him, unable to keep the huge grin off of her face 'Or it could have been a fluke. You know a one off?' she turned her head to look at him chewing on her bottom lip.

'Mmm' he nodded thoughtfully 'You're right' he said 'It could have been a fluke' he licked his lips and he turned his head towards hers and he grinned. 'Well there's only one thing for it' he said and she moved over her 'We'll have to do it again!'

'Yeah!' Lauren nodded 'Okay' she giggled and she reached up and kissed him.

The next morning when Joey woke up and he smiled as he remembered his very pleasurable night with Lauren. He took a deep breath and he let it out slowly and then stopped, holding his breath, he turned quickly to look at the other side of the bed, half-expecting to find Lauren gone.

'Hi' she said smiling shyly.

She watched the broad grin that spread across his face

'Hi' he replied 'This is new, us waking up together' he moved forward and he kissed her softly. 'I like it' he told her

Lauren nodded 'Me too, I could get used to this'

'Yeah? You know what else we could get used to?' he asked her

'What?' she grinned at him already knowing the answer to the question.

**AN: First off a very special thank you to 74Crazychick who has allowed me to bounce ideas off her and bounced a few back! Also for her wordmanship on a few sections where words failed me and she gave them to me. So thank you xx **

**Thank you all for the reviews and reading the story. **

**Glad that you all like it. **

**Thank you to all the guest reviewers sorry I can't reply to you personally but I enjoy reading your thoughts and comments (well except the rude ones!) **

**No this isn't the end… Just wanted to get some thank you's off my chest. **

**Back later**

**As always please R&R **


	35. Chapter 35

Lauren and Joey spent a week in the hotel and then travelled to visit with her Nan Cora. She welcomed Joey into her home, although much to Lauren and Joey's horror and dismay insisted that they have separate bedrooms. Cora was strangely very old fashioned and didn't believe in sex before marriage. Which explained, to Lauren, the very strained relationship between her mother and Cora. Tanya had got pregnant at 18 after her affair with Max who at the time was married to someone else with a 6 month old son.

On numerous occasions both Lauren and Joey had been caught sneaking out of or to the other's room by a not very happy Cora. Each time they were caught they were given a lecture by her grandmother and they both sat there like naughty school children fighting back their giggles until she had left the room.

They had been in Australia for a month. Lauren sighed as Joey came into the room from an early morning run.

'What's wrong babe?' he asked her 'Do you want to go home?'

Lauren shook her head 'No. I want to see more of Australia' she told him

'Yeah? Like where?'

'I want to see the Sydney Opera House and the Harbour and I want to see Ayers Rock and I want to go to Bondi Beach'

'Okay, so then we see more of Australia' he told her as he grabbed a water from the fridge

'You don't mind?' Lauren asked him softly as he sat down next to her

'No. As long as I am with you I am happy' he told her softly 'Wherever we go. And if I am honest I want to see more of Australia too' he moved forward and he gave her kiss. 'I am going to go shower and then we will look at where we are going next' he told her

'I love you' Lauren said to him and Joey beamed at her, he would never get tired of hearing her say that to him.

'I love you too babe' he said stealing another kiss before he disappeared.

After a tearful goodbye to Cora, which Lauren knew was silly because they had left some of their cases there to collect on their way back, Lauren had wanted to spend another few days in the hotel they first stayed in when they got to Australia before they went home and Joey was happy to oblige, Lauren and Joey were packed and off on their travels.

When they had checked back into the hotel Lauren had been so exhausted from travelling she had curled up on the bed and fell asleep for 12 hours straight, Joey had taken off her shoes and covered her with a sheet before turning the air-conditioning on and then curled up on the bed beside her.

Now after 3 months of travelling Australia they were both sitting in the first class cabin on their flight home. Joey was asleep beside her, the fingers of his left hand entwined with her right hand.

Lauren lay her head back against the head rest and she closed her eyes and she let her mind wander...

*FLASHBACK*

The first night they got to Australia, things had got a little heated between her and Joey and they had spent most of the night having mind blowing sex. Lauren had woken before Joey the next morning, she had stretched and smiled as she remember the events of last night, she felt a little bit sore but in a good way, she rolled over to look at Joey who was asleep beside her, she propped her head up on her hand, and she waited for Joey to wake up. She knew the instant that he did because he suddenly took a deep breath and started to let it out slowly, but then he stopped and he spun round in the bed in a way that made Lauren want to giggle.

'Hi' she said smiling shyly at him

She watched the broad grin that spread across his face and she felt her heart melt that this grin was for her, and for her alone, and that all she had done to earn it was to be there in bed with him when he woke up.

'Hi' he replied 'This is new, us waking up together' he moved forward and he kissed her softly. 'I like it' he told her

Lauren nodded 'me too, I could get used to this' she had replied and it was true she could.

'Yeah? You know what else we could get used to?' he asked her

'What?' she grinned at him already knowing the answer to the question.

'Wake up sex' he told her

'I wouldn't say no' Lauren said to him and then she frowned 'Don't you want breakfast first?'

'Babe you are breakfast' he smiled back at her as he lunged for her, she squealed and giggled.

Later when they laying his each other arms, he frowned

'Why did you ask me if I wanted breakfast first?' he asked her, when he didn't answer he shifted their position slightly so he could look down at her

He saw her eyes cloud over briefly and she shrugged 'I just thought that you might be hungry that's all' she told him. He wasn't happy with her answer but decided not to push it.

*END OF FLASHBACK*

The stewardess interrupted Lauren asking her if she would like some refreshments or something to eat. Lauren declined choosing to wait until Joey woke up. She turned to look at the sleeping man next to her and she smiled and she closed her eyes, she was soon asleep.

**AN: Don't worry there will flashbacks during their flight home of their trip to Australia from both their point of views. **

**Glad that you are enjoying Out Of The Blue.**

**Thanks for all your reviews **

**Please R&R as always**

**Back later **


	36. Chapter 36

Joey woke a few minutes later and saw Lauren asleep beside him, if it wasn't for his very urgent need to use the bathroom, he would have stayed where he was just watching her, he carefully untangled their fingers and he went to use the bathroom. When he came back he retook his seat. Lauren's hair had fallen over her face when she had moved in her seat, he smiled and he brushed it gently away and he kissed her forehead softly so he didn't wake her.

*FLASHBACK*

Joey was stretched out on the bed, with his hands behind his head waiting for Lauren to decide what she was going to wear to the beach. For some reason she had packed 10 different bikinis. Lauren had a towel wrapped around her as she studied the bikinis. She picked up a red one and held it against herself before tossing it aside, the yellow, green, black and orange got discarded. She frowned at sighed,

'Try the blue one' Joey had suggested. Lauren's eyes flicked to his briefly before she picked up the blue bikini and she held it against herself. 'You know you're not going to see if it looks good on unless you actually put it on' he told her 'Personally I think you are going to look great in it'

Lauren didn't look convinced, she picked up the bikini and she someone managed to put in on without removing the towel, Joey smiled shaking his head at her. Once the bikini was on she disappeared into the bathroom. Joey waited for her to return when she didn't he went into the bathroom and he saw her looking worriedly at her reflection.

'Wow you look great' he told her with a smile as he let his eyes wander over her body. 'It's very sexy. I like you in blue' he said as he slid his arms around her waist, resting his hands on her stomach and he kissed her shoulder and then her neck.

'You don't think it's too revealing?' she asked him 'You're not worried about other people looking at me?'

'Babe, you're gorgeous, people are going to look at you even if you wear a sack' he told her softly 'do you feel comfortable in it?'

She nodded her head 'Yeah I do but…'

'But what?' Joey asked her softly

'Are you sure that you're okay with me wearing it?' she asked him 'Because I have other suits that I can wear, I have an all in on suit too…' she told him

Joey frowned and he turned her around to face him 'You look amazing in this one. I don't care if other guys look at you' he said to her softly 'they can look but they can't touch' he added 'Because you are mine' he licked his lips and he moved forward and he kissed her softly 'You look perfect'

'You just want to get to the beach' Lauren said to him with a frown

'I want us to get to the beach' he replied with a smile 'you can wear what you want babe but I really like you in this one' he told her

Lauren smiled at him and she nodded 'Okay' she said

Joey kissed her one more time and let her go and she walked into the bedroom and picked up her sarong and tie it around her waist, she slipped her feet into her flip-flops and then reached for a lacy shawl, Joey smiled from the doorway. She spent a little time arranging it over her shoulders frowning when she couldn't get it right

'If you don't get a move on we won't be going anywhere' he said to her. Lauren turned to look at him, her face fell as she swallowed. Joey thought she looked a little frightened, he frowned as he crossed the room and slid his arms around her again, 'Because the more I look at you in that bikini the more I want to take it off and do rude things to you' he teased her as he kissed her neck, Lauren giggled

'You always want to do rude things to me'

'That's very true' he nodded his head 'I do' he smiled at her 'you do know it's like 88 degrees outside do you really think you need that shawl?' he asked her as he slid it off her shoulders and tossed it onto the bed. He picked up her bag and took her hand in his, 'so can we go to the beach now please? Please?' he asked her and he pouted.

Lauren rolled her eyes and she nodded 'Yes'

'Thank you' he replied.

Once they got to the beach and Joey had found a spot for them to sit, Lauren laid out the towels, she had pulled out the sunscreen lotion and once she had topped up his sunscreen, he took the bottle from Lauren and proceeded to massage the lotion into her skin, paying particular attention to her shoulders and her arms, her back and her legs before he paid special attention to her stomach and the top of her breasts, he suggested Lauren sunbathe topless and she looked at him in total horror as though he had suggested that she dye her hair purple, he let it drop and pressed a kiss to her shoulder before telling her was going to go and cool off in the sea for bit.

Joey wondered about the strange way she acted at numerous times during their trip, he had never noticed t before because they had never been in this situation before they had always just been friends. But now they were boyfriend and girlfriend, truth be told they were a lot more than that. He ducked under the water and swam a little. He suddenly had an idea about both of them snorkelling along the great barrier reef and added that to their "Things we have to do in Australia list" they had compiled one night in between sex. He broke the surface for air and he licked his lips, he trod water as he looked for Lauren on the beach, he found her and he smiled to himself, before frowning as he remembered what he was thinking about before he got distracted.

Lauren's moments of strange behaviour. There was the breakfast comment that she made on their second day in Australia. Then today there was the bikini incident, she seemed to be waiting for Joey to tell her what she could wear and then suggesting that she cover herself up. Lauren had a great figure, he didn't know why she didn't show it off. He remembered the look on her face when he said that if she didn't hurry up that they wouldn't be leaving the hotel room. He had thought that she looked at little scared of him for an instant at least.

Then there was the incident when he had come back from checking them out of the hotel when they had seen Ayers rock and when he came back it looked like a bomb had gone off in the bathroom.

'Lauren! What the hell happened in the bathroom' he called out as he peered at her through the door. She had been sitting cross legged on the floor looking through some of the pictures that they had taken and she had gotten developed.

She jumped up and raced to the bathroom 'Sorry! I was doing it and then I got distracted' she told him, she had then proceeded to hurriedly tidy everything away. 'Sorry, I'm sorry' she had told him and gave him a quick kiss and she ran her hands over his chest, 'Sorry. I'm sorry, It won't happen again' she had said again once she had finished. She had then acted skittishly around him for the rest of the day, every time he touched her she would jump, he had tried to talk to her about it but she had told him that she had seen a huge spider and she was a bit freaked out by the size of it and that she thought one was crawling on her. So he let it go.

There were other times when she had acted a little strangely too come to think of it. He frowned and he swam back to the shore and he walked towards her. When he reached her she was lying on her stomach, Joey smiled.

'Hi' he said softly as he lay down beside her, he reached over and he undid her bikini top 'you'll get tan lines babe' he told her softly and he kissed her shoulder, she turned her head to look at him

'You really don't mind?' she asked him again 'If I go topless?'

'No' he shook his head 'Half the beach is topless' he told her 'Hey you don't have to if you don't want to' he said.

'I want to' she said 'I just … I didn't want to upset you'

'Why would you upset me, I suggested you go topless in the first place' he told her 'Lauren you have a great body and you should show it off' he said 'I'm not saying that when we get back to Walford I'm expecting you to walk around in a bikini or topless' he laughed a little 'but we're on holiday babe' he told her

Lauren licked her lips and she pulled her bikini top off completely and dropped it by her towel. Joey smiled at her.

'You know at some point we're going to have to talk about things' he told her

Lauren licked her lips 'What things?' she asked him

'You have been acting a little….oddly at times' he said to her

'I have?' She frowned at him 'Odd how?'

*END OF FLASHBACK*

Joey was pulled out of his musings when Lauren woke suddenly yelling out something about Jellyfish, Joey laughed at her as she looked at him.

'There are no jellyfish on the plane babe' he told her and she pulled a face and smiled at him. 'You dreaming about them again?'

'Mmm' she nodded 'they were chasing me and then when they caught me they all climbed on me and they covered me from head to toe and then I turned into jelly'

Joey brushed her forehead lightly with his fingers 'You have the strangest dreams' he told her 'It's very busy in here'

Lauren nodded 'At times yeah' she said to him.

Her stomach rumbled and Joey smiled 'I'll order some food' he said to her.

'I'll just freshen up a little' she said and she reached forward and she kissed him. 'I love you Joseph Branning' she murmured against his lips.

He smiled as she walked away from him. He was glad that he had made her talk to him in Sydney, no matter how upsetting it was for the both of them, he was glad that everything was out in the open, and Lauren was no longer acting strangely. But if he ever saw Simon again… well he wasn't sure that he would be able to control himself. He prayed that he never crossed his path.

**AN: Thanks for all your reviews as always R&R **

**Back later…. **

**Are you all intrigued about Simon? **


	37. Chapter 37

After they had eaten Joey and Lauren were watching one of the choices of inflight movies. Joey was much more into it than she was, it was a modern day gangster movie with fast car chases and people being blown up for the sake of it. Joey was loving it. Lauren would have preferred a horror move but they didn't show those on the plane.

Lauren picked up her refreshingly cold lemonade and she took a drink. She let out a long sigh and smiled.

*FLASHBACK*

Lauren had ducked out of the hotel to get some last minute wrapping papers before tomorrow. They were flying home tomorrow and she wanted to have time to finish wrapping and spend some last minute time with Joey before they had to lug all their luggage to the airport, spend two hours waiting for their flight and then spend 20 hours in the air.

She walked into the lounge and then through to the bedroom. As she walked into the room she shivered.

'Joey have you been playing with the air conditioning again?' she asked him with a frown 'It's like an ice-box in here' she said as she dropped her purchases on the bed.

'I lit the fire' Joey told her 'I thought we could have dinner and a little champagne'

She looked up and she walked round the small sofa and saw Joey had lit the fire in the hearth, he had also ordered room service and had arranged all the food around in a semi -circle, he had put two cushions on the floor for them to sit on and then in front of the fire he had moved the black rug and put a couple of pillows from the bed there as well as blanket.

'What's that for?' she asked him

'That's where we have dessert' he grinned at her,

Lauren sat down and he poured her a glass of champagne.

Joey undressed her painfully slowly, starting at her feet, he took his time lavishing every single inch of skin that he exposed with open mouthed kisses, and playful nibbles, by the time he reached her thighs she was trembling with need for him, but he bypassed that area and instead he slowly pushed up her see through top with his hand and kissed and licked her hips and her stomach, he rolled down the top of her bikini bottom slightly and kissed the exposed skin there too, causing her to whimper softly.

'Joey!' she groaned in protest, he kissed his way up to her face and he bent his head close to her ear. 'Tonight, we are not going to rush baby' he whispered to her 'I am going to take my time exploring every single sexy, delectable inch of you' he said and he kissed her earlobe and then nuzzled her neck with his nose, before sucking on a spot just below her ear that made her go crazy, she groaned again. Joey trailed his lips over her face, kissing her nose, her eye lids and her cheeks, when he reached her lips he teased her with soft light playful kisses, his tongue snaking out to lick the seam of her lips, when she opened her mouth he playfully licked her top lips, delving his tongue into her mouth briefly before pulling away from her. He pulled her see through top over her head he tossed it away, bending his head he kissed the other side of her neck and throat, pausing again to kiss and suck the skin below her ear earning another little whimper from her.

His lips moved over her clavicle, to the hollow in her neck and then to over to her other collar bone, her breathing was fast, and he hadn't even touched her anywhere intimate but was he was doing to her was turning her on so much she was trembling with her need for him.

His lips moved to the swell of her breasts and he spent at least 10 minutes, kissing and licking the exposed flesh, when he moved one of his hands over her breast to cup it and squeeze it she moaned loudly 'Joey please' she whimpered

'All in good time babe' he said softly as he raised his head to look at her, he kissed her lips again and plunged his tongue inside, seeking out hers and caressing it with his, one hand slide to her side and he pulled her onto her side, his hand moved the her bikini top and he undid the strings at the nape of her neck and then the ties at her back, his hand spanned her naked back and he rolled onto his back pulling her with him. Her legs moved either side of his and she could feel his arousal pressing against her, she wriggled needing something to help her ease the throbbing between her thighs. She broke the kiss to gasp softly and Joey suddenly flipped them so she was lying on the rug again, she frowned and pouted at him

'No fair Joe!' she told him

'Good things come to those who wait' he told her with a smile 'besides. I haven't finished exploring yet' he raised his eyebrows at her and then he pulled the bikini top away from her body before bending his head and flicking her nipple with his tongue he sucked it into this mouth, she arched her back off the floor, pushing more of herself into his mouth and she gasped, his other hand covered her neglected breast and he brushed his thumb over her nipple and then rolled it between his finger and thumb. Lauren as writhing and moaning beneath him as he switched breasts and paid the same amount of attention to that one. Long moments later his lips moved lower and Lauren let out a breath, she felt Joey untie her bikini bottoms and he nudged her knees apart and he pulled the bikini down, exposing her to his gaze. He shifted to lie on his stomach between her leg and he kissed her thighs, using his fingers he gently opened her up to him and he ran his tongue along the length of her slit, she trembled and let out a breathy moan. He flicked her clit with his tongue and he hips raised off the floor, he encouraged her to out her legs over his shoulders and then he looked up at her to see if she was watching, which she was and he held her gaze as he buried his face between her legs. He moaned at the taste of her, how wet she was, how responsive that she was to him.

'Joey!' she pleaded with him again, but Joey wasn't going to rush, he was going to take his time with her. The last three months all they had done is rush, they tried to take their time but in the end they both wanted each other just as badly as the other and they ended up skipping most of the foreplay. But not tonight. Tonight Joey was going to show Lauren just exactly how much he wanted her. How much he adored her, how much pleasure that he could give her.

Lauren felt the orgasm building and she moved her hands to the rag and she clench it in her hands and she groaned and arched off the floor. 'Joey! Oh my god Joey!' she exclaimed loudly 'JOEY!' she screamed his name as he brought her to orgasm, tiny pinpricks of light exploded behind her eyes and her whole body felt as though it had suddenly caught fire.

Joey kept up his pleasurable torture between her legs, wrenching another orgasm out of her, she should have been a little bit satisfied but she wasn't….she wanted more.

Joey looked up at her licking his lips, he smiled and he trailed his kisses back up her body, pausing to lick and suck her nipples before he kissed her on this mouth, she could taste herself on him and she groaned into his mouth. He broke the kiss for then to breath

'How come I'm naked and you're still fully clothed?' she asked him in between playful kisses

'Easily rectified' he said to her softly and he pulled away from her and pulled his t-shirt over his head, Lauren's eyes fell to his six pack and she smiled as he reached for his flies

'Let me' she smiled at him, he swallowed and nodded. She sat up and pushed him down onto his back and she undid his shorts and pulled both them and his boxers off in one go. He bit down hard on his bottom lip when he felt her hand surround his thick length and begin to stroke gently but firmly, he couldn't help the swear word that passed through his lips when he felt her hot soft warm mouth close over his cock. She experimented with her actions seeing what got more of a response from Joey, she did something that Simon hated she used her teeth on him gently, causing Joey to buck his hips and growl in a way that made her insides feel like jelly and made her sex throb more.

It wasn't long before Joey was begging her for mercy and she sucked him firmly, swirling her tongue around the head before plunging him back into his mouth, he held one of her hands in his tightly as he came in her mouth, shooting hot bursts of his seed into her throat, she swallowed him down eagerly. When he opened his eyes she was licking her lips much like a cat who had just enjoyed some cream.

He tugged her forward until she was lying on top of him, her legs either side of his, he kissed her hungrily, loving the taste of both of them in her mouth, in his. They kissed and caressed each other and it wasn't long before Joey became aroused again. He rolled Lauren on to her back and he moved over her, she gazed up at him and she ran her fingers down his chest and over his six pack getting closer and closer to his cock, he pulled up her leg and he pushed it back gently letting his fingers run over the soft tender skin on the back of her thigh and he pressed forward and he sank into her, they both moaned as he slid inside so that he was filling her completely.

His movements within her were slow, tender. She was already whimpering and trembling beneath him and he barely been inside her above two minutes, he wanted this to last, for her, for both of them. But mainly for her.

He licked his lips and he took a deep breath and he moved forward and he kissed her. Lauren could feel her climax building and she gasped loudly 'Joe!' she murmured over and over, he smiled and he moved his lips to her neck, kissing just beneath her ear and then kissing her earlobe lightly.

'You feel so good Lauren' he whispered in her ear 'you are so tight, so wet, you feel amazing!, the way you grip my cock as it moves inside you… fuck baby you feel so good. You and me fit so perfectly together….can you feel it?'

'Yes….oh god Joey!' she murmured. Joey increased his pace a little and he felt Lauren start to spasm around him, he rolled them suddenly so that he was on his back and Lauren was straddling him, she paused for a fraction, he put his hands on her waist and she took them off and entwined their fingers together and she started to move. Joey groaned loudly

'Baby that feels so good, just like that baby!' he encouraged her.

Just as lauren started to come he flipped her again, pushing their hands above her head as he increased his pace and brought her to one of the most exquisite earth shattering orgasms that she had ever had in her life. He came straight after her with a deep low growl triggering Lauren's fourth orgasm of the night … so far at least.

*END OF FLASHBACK*

Lauren turned to look at Joey and he turned to look at her and caught the faint blush on her cheeks and the way she shifted in her seat.

'Everything okay babe?'

'I was just remembering out last night in the hotel' she told him

Joey grinned at her 'That was definitely one of the best we've spent together' he replied

'Yes it was' she nodded in agreement, Joey looked around the cabin

'You wanna join the mile high club?' he asked her with a wicked grin.

'Joey! What if we get caught?' she asked him

'So that's a not a no then?' he smiled at her and she shook her head with a grin.

**AN: One of the steamier flashbacks that the two of them will have…. Hope you enjoy it! **

**Thanks for all your reviews and as always please R&R **


	38. Chapter 38

Joey went to the bathroom first and then Lauren was supposed to follow him a few minutes afterwards, he waited for her and then when she didn't show he poked his head out of the door and he saw Lauren grinning at him, he gestured for her come in and she giggled and shook her head. He frowned at her and gestured again and once again she shook her head. He glared at her and pointed at her and then pointed at his groin and then at the floor in front of him, which caused Lauren to collapse into a fit of giggles, Joey couldn't help laughing too, he shook his head at when she looked at him again and gave her his best disappointed look and he went back into the bathroom. A few seconds later he heard her knock on the door once, twice then three times. He unlocked the door and opened it and he dragged her in, catching her lips with his, she pushed her knickers down and kicked them off and then she undid Joey's jeans and freed his arousal from the constraints of his boxer shorts, she jumped up wrapping her legs around his waist and reaching between them she grasped his cock firmly in her hand and she lowered herself on to him.

'Fuck Lauren! I wasn't ready!' he hissed in ear

'I just held "ready" in my hand' she replied saucily

'My dick is always ready. I meant that I wasn't expecting you to do that' he scolded her 'You need to give a guy a little warning before you do something like that!' he told her as she used his shoulders for purchase to raise herself off of him.

'Like what?' she asked him 'Do you want me to yodel? Or whistle?' she asked him

'I'm just saying a little heads up would be nice' he told her as he pushed up her top and cupped her breast with his hand, before pulling the cup down to expose her breast to him, he moved forward and kissed her nipple lightly

'What do you want me to say then?' Lauren said as she lowered herself into him again and then began a slow rhythm, 'Up Periscope' she said and she started to giggle against his neck

'Giggling when I'm trying to fuck you is not helping my ego!' he scolded her with a smile 'Just stop talking and focus at the task in hand'

'It's not in my hand' she replied

Joey looked at her with a smirk and he moved forward and he kissed her as he started to thrust upwards on her downward movements

'You really don't…..get the concept…..of dirty talk…during sex….do you?' he asked her between kisses

'It's in my tight ….. wet…. hot….. FUCK! Joey!' she cried out as he thrust particularly hard.

'Getting better' he murmured as his mouth closed over hers to swallow her cries.

Lauren had dozed off after the sexcapades in the bathroom.

The air stewardess had smiled at them as they returned to their seats and Lauren had blushed a scarlet colour giving the game way as to what they had been doing. They had to be quick for fear of other passengers needing to use the bathroom. They had giggled as they sat down like naughty school children being caught being mischievous at school. Joey couldn't get enough of sex with Lauren, and he knew that she felt the same way about him. She was the one who had been caught more times than he had when they were staying at Cora's house.

Joey looked at her and he covered her with a blanket in case she got cold and he turned on the TV to watch some news. He thought back to the night after they had talked on the beach in Sydney. He had thought that there was nothing else that she could tell him that would shock him.

He was wrong.

*FLASHBACK*

Lauren lay in Joeys arms, he kissed the top of her head and she smiled and kissed his chest.

'You know in the last 6 weeks that we've been here, I think that I've had more sex with you then I did with Simon in the three years that we were together' Lauren told him softly

'He's gone Lauren. You're with me now' he told her

'I know' she said to him 'He was scared of you. Did you know that?' she looked up at him

'Yeah I had an idea' he replied

The next thing out of her mouth shocked him 'He hit me' she told him, 'Gave me a black eye once'

Joey tensed 'He did what? When?' he asked her and he frowned 'Wait was it that time that you told me that you fell up the stairs when you were carrying a box and you hit yourself in the face with it?' he asked her and she nodded 'He actually hit you? Why?'

Lauren took a breath 'I forgot to put the lid back on the toothpaste' she said to him 'He really hated when I did that'

'That's not an excuse to hit you though Lauren' he told her and he frowned at her 'Is that why you were so skittish the other night, when I told you off for leaving the cap off?' he asked her

'I guess so….yeah' she nodded.

Joey rolled them over so she was underneath him 'I will never ever hit you Lauren' he told her seriously 'I don't believe in hitting women, it's what cowards do' he said to her, she gazed up at him

'You spanked me once' she said to him

'I apologised to you for that' he told her 'and spanking is a little different that smacking you in the face' he said 'did you hit you more than that time?' he asked her

'No he never hit me gain after that, well not while we were together anyway. I told him he ever laid a finger on me again that I would tell you and you beat seven shades of shit out of him' Lauren said with a smile 'he was that scared of you'

'Too bloody right I would've' Joey scowled at her

'The second time was I was kicking him out, when he lashed out at me on the street' she said 'You punched him in the face before he could hit me again'

'I thought he hit you by accident. That you were too close to him?'

'No, he knew what he was doing' Lauren said to him 'He's already threated to hit me before you got there, it must have just looked like an accident to you' she said

Joey looked at her 'Why didn't you tell me?'

'And you would have what? Beat up him, he'd have gone to the police you know'

'Yeah well Uncle Jack would have gotten involved so…'

'I thought that I loved him' she said 'I'd convinced myself that I did'

'Like I did with Lucy' he told her

'Something like that yeah I guess' she said softly. Joey bent his head and he kissed her, sliding his tongue into her mouth with a soft groan. The kiss had got pretty heated and then suddenly Joey pulled away from her 'What's wrong?' she looked up at him confused

'When we went to find Simon… did you find him?' he asked her, she blinked and he had the answer 'You weren't really mugged were you?'

'No' she said softly and she closed her eyes, she felt the loss as soon as Joey moved away from her and climbed off the bed, she sighed and she sat up, covering herself with the sheet and sitting up to hug her knees to her chest,

'Did he do that to you?' he asked her 'Did he leave you unconscious in the street? Did he put you in the hospital?'

'They said that they had an anonymous call' Lauren said to him

'I asked you a question Lauren' he snapped as he turned to look at her 'Did he do that to you?'

'Yes' Lauren said to him 'He did'

'Why? What happened?'

'He was pleased to see me at first' Lauren told him 'He thought that I had gone to find to get him back, when I told him that I hadn't, that I'd come back to get the money he stole from me his mood changed, he told me that he was owed that money and that I should go home and forget about it. When I said that I wasn't going anywhere he got angry with me…the rest you know.. what he did I mean' she said to him. 'He accused me of sleeping with you behind his back, he said that you made some comment to him before he left' she said sand she looked up at him.

'Yeah I did' he said, he sighed and he walked back to the bed and he climbed onto it and hovered over her. 'I'm sorry' he said to her 'He was just bragging that he got into your knickers before I did' Joey said to her 'I told him I was the first' Lauren closed her eyes 'I'm sorry baby' he told her 'Will you forgive me?'

'It wasn't your fists pounding on my face' she replied to him 'there's nothing to forgive' she told him 'I know that you would never hurt me'

'I promise' he told her 'only light spanking when necessary' he teased her trying to lighten the mood.

'Yeah well that goes both ways you know' she warned him with a smile, Joey nodded and he bent down and he kissed her softly, she wrapped her arms around his neck and then melted into one another.

*END OF FLASHBACK*

**AN: So Lauren and Joey joined the mile high club. **

**And there's a little bit more of a reveal about Simon. **

**Thanks for your reviews as always R&R **


	39. Chapter 39

The plane was still 10 hours away from London. Lauren and Joey were talking in the cabin.

'What do you think has happened in the Square since we've been gone?' Lauren asked Joey as they were waiting for their meal to be delivered

'I expect that it's gone on like normal without us being there' he told her as he played with her fingers that were on his thigh

'Do you think everyone knows that we're together?'

'I don't know. I mean our family knows' he said to her 'Does it matter if no one else does?'

'I guess not' she said softly, she was quiet for a moment 'What if they all freak out because we're cousins'

'Technically we're not though are we?' he asked her 'I mean I was adopted, so technically we're not related'

'But we've grown up together… we've been best friends forever'

'Best friends fall in love. So do cousins. It's not illegal' he replied 'Besides it's a little late now isn't it?' he asked her 'There's no going back now'

She smiled at him 'No, No going back' she shook her head and she moved forward and gave him a soft kiss 'I love you too much to go back now'

'I love you too much too' he replied with a smile

Their food came and Lauren licked her lips 'This looks amazing. Thank you' she smiled at the stewardess

'You're welcome' she smiled back at her

'I'm starving' Lauren said 'Do you think Lucy will still be in Walford?'

'I don't know' Joey admitted to her

'If she is and she sees us together, don't you think it will be a little awkward?' she asked him 'I mean you were going to marry her and now we're together'

'Lucy will understand' Joey said 'Honestly I think she will probably be in Spain. But if she isn't then we will deal with it okay?'

'Okay' Lauren nodded

'Hey, look at me' he said to her. Lauren turned her head towards him. 'Does it matter what other people think?' he asked her 'I love you, you love me and we're incredibly happy…isn't that all that matters?'

Lauren smiled at him and she nodded 'Yes'

'So will you stop worrying please and eat your food before it gets cold?'

After they had eaten they snuggled up together as best they could in the seats. 'Try and get some sleep baby' he whispered as he kissed her hair 'And stop worrying!'

Lauren wasn't tired but she closed her eyes, happy to be in Joey's arms. She remembered their visit to her grandmothers.

*FLASHBACK*

'This is your room Lauren' she said as she led them down the hall and stood outside the room 'And Joey this is your room' she turned and she looked at the door at the other side of the hall.

'But Nan…' Lauren had started to protest

'Now Lauren this is my house and my rules' she told her 'you and Joey will not share a room whilst you are under my roof, if you don't like it then you can go and stay in the B&B down the road' she had told them 'there will be no funny business going on under my roof' she told them both 'I mean it young lady' she waved her finger at Lauren.

That night Lauren and Joey had gone to bed before Cora, they kissed goodnight and Lauren closed her bedroom door before Joey went into his. They both lay in their separate rooms, neither of them could sleep. And the fact that they were told that they couldn't have sex just made them both want it more. They had both heard Cora go to bed half an hour later and Lauren watched the clock, waiting another 30 minutes before she quietly crept out of bed. Tiptoed to the door and slowly opened it, she crept out of her room and she opened Joey's door. He sat up in bed.

'Lauren what are you doing?' he hissed at her

'Ssh' Lauren put her finger over her lips as she shut Joey's door behind her, she tiptoed to his bed and she crawled onto it. She straddled him and his hands moved to her hips 'You'll wake Nan' she scolded him as she moved forward and she kissed him softly, pushing her tongue between his lips to delve into his mouth, he tasted faintly of toothpaste and wine.

'Babe, you know that it's not that I don't want to but your Nan …..'

'Ssh Joey I need you. I want you' she murmured against his lips 'besides her bark is much worse than her bite' she told him

'I don't think we should' he told her, Lauren ground against him feeling his arousal 'and that's not fair… so good… but not fair' he scolded her

'Please Joey…. I need you…. I want you' she told him softly and she pulled her t-shirt over her head, baring her breasts to his gaze

'Your Nan is going to kill us!' he shook his head and he pulled her down against his erection, he kissed her firmly and then manoeuvred them so she was underneath him. They undressed each other and Joey looked down at her 'and you have to try and keep quiet' he murmured against her lips.

'I promise' she nodded eagerly, his fingers delved between her legs, and he groaned as he found that she was already dripping wet for him, he groaned loudly

'Ssssh!' Lauren frowned at him and the she smiled,

'Please Joey.. I need you so badly'

'You and me both babe' he said as he slowly sank into her. She gave a soft breathy moan, just like she always did when he first entered her, he felt himself grow even harder inside her, he began to move slowly and they realised that the bed creaked loudly. Joey froze and they both listened hard waiting for her Nan's door to open, five minutes later they had heard nothing and Joey withdrew from her,

'No Joey!' she complained.

''Relax, we are just going to have to relocate' he told her softly. He climbed out of bed and held out his hand to help her out, they were both standing in front of each other and he pulled her into his arms and he kissed her until they were both breathless and they moved to the floor, he was inside her in one swift movement. She gasped again and arched her back.

Later they lay together on the floor, their limbs entwined, both of them covered in a light sheen of sweat, both of them a little breathless, Joey kissed her softly,

'You should get dressed and go back to your room before Cora wakes up' Joey told her

'What time is it?' she asked him with a satisfied sigh

'2:30am' he told her

'It's still early'

'Yes but if you stay here were both going to end up falling asleep in here and then we'll be in trouble'

'Ten more minutes, then I'll go' she promised him and she kissed his neck.

'That's what you said an hour ago' he told her with a smile

'Mmm' I promise this time, just ten more minutes Joe'

As Joey predicted they both fell asleep. He woke up hearing Cora's bedroom door open and close, followed by the bathroom door.

He gently shook Lauren awake and she looked up at him with a frown and then a right smile spread across her face.

'Hey' she said

'Your nan is up'

Lauren frowned 'What? What time is it?'

'7:30am' he told her 'I told you we were going to fall asleep!' he told her 'She's in the kitchen now I think' he said 'You better go back to your own room' he said, he stood up and grabbed her t-shirt and he pulled it on over her head. He followed her to the door and he kissed her pressing her back against the door, a certain part of his anatomy sprung to life and he groaned 'Go!' he said with a groan and he opened the door and he stole another kiss as she moved through it. 'Love you' he whispered. Lauren smiled at him

'Love you too' she replied.

Lauren smiled as Joey closed his door and she heard the bed creak as he climbed into it. She walked back to her room and she opened her door

'You're up early' she heard Cora say, she turned and saw her standing at the end of the hall with her arms folded over her chest.

'Er, yeah.' Lauren nodded

'Did you just come out of Joey's room?' she asked her

'Er yeah, I just went into wake him up' Lauren said to her 'We wanted to help you make breakfast' Lauren told her

'Mmhmm' Cora nodded her head knowingly, she glared at Lauren and opened her mouth to say something and then closed it again and shook her head and she walked back into the kitchen. Lauren let out a breath she didn't realise that she was holding and darted into the bathroom.

*END OF FLASHBACK*

'Joey?' Lauren's voice surprised him. He thought that she had fallen asleep.

'Yeah?'

'Do you think our parents will freak out or be upset with us?' she asked him and she opened her eyes to look at him. 'I mean we've only been gone for three months…'

'No I don't think they will be. Do you?'

'I don't know' she shrugged.

'I think our parents will be fine about it, Its Alice and Abs that might be a little upset' he said to her

'Do you think the presents that we got them will stop them being upset?' she asked him

'Who can be mad when they have presents?' he replied. 'They'll get over it' he told her

Lauren smiled at him 'Yeah. Well they kind of have to don't they? I mean we can't change anything now'

'Even if we wanted to which I don't' he said and he picked up her hand he kissed it softly.

**AN: Fun and games at Cora's! **

**Lauren's worried about everyone's reaction to them when they return home.**

**Thanks for all your reviews, R&R as always **

**Back later. **


	40. Chapter 40

*FLASHBACK*

After they spent the day at the beach they went to a little restaurant not far from the hotel for dinner before they went back to their room.

Having spent the majority of the day laying in the hot sun, and swimming, they were both tired. Lauren used the bathroom first, she took a quick shower and dried herself, 'Joey, can you put some after sun on my back please?' she called out to him.

'Sure babe' he called out. He turned off the TV and he walked into the bathroom. Lauren dropped her towel to her waist and he took the open bottle from her. Her hair was curled into a messy bun on top of her head, he gentle massaged the cooling cream into her back.

'Thank you' she smiled at him when he had finished

'Anything else that you want cream massaged into?' he asked her, his eyes met hers in the mirror and then dropped to her breasts 'I still have some cream on my hands'

'I think they're fine thank you' she said to him 'They weren't exposed to the sun' she told him with a smile.

'Okay well you can't blame a guy for trying' he told her 'I'm going to take a quick shower then you can repay the favour' he told her and he kissed her cheek softly

Joey showered while Lauren undid her hair and brushed it through and she cleaned her teeth and went into the bedroom. She pulled on a t-shirt to sleep in and she sat on the bed and she sorted out her dirty clothes from today and put them in the dirty clothes suitcase. She heard the shower stop as she looked through her case for clean clothes to wear for tomorrow. She chose the white bikini and a white sarong and she laid them out on the chair, she put her flip flops underneath the chair. She walked to the mini fridge and she pulled out a bottle of water, she unscrewed the lip and took a drink, she put the bottle on the bedside table and then she pulled back the covers and climbed onto bed to wait for Joey to finish in the shower. Lauren heard Joey turn off the shower and she got up and she walked into the bathroom, she smiled at him and grabbed another towel and she dried his back and arms and then his shoulders, he handed her the cream, she rubbed some into his back and shoulders and then she moved round to stand in front of him, he picked her up and sat her on the vanity and she massaged cream into his chest and torso.

'There done' she said softly and she moved forward and kissed on softly on the lips.

'Thank you' he replied.

'So are we spending another day on the beach tomorrow?' she asked him

'Is that you what you want to do?' he asked her and she nodded

'Then yes that's what we will do tomorrow' he replied, he was rewarded with a smile and Lauren moved forward to kiss him again.

'You taste of onions' Lauren said licking her lips.

'I'll clean my teeth and then come to bed' he smiled

'Don't be too long' she said as she slid off the vanity. Joey held on to her hand for as long as he could and she turned to look at him as he looked at toothpaste

'You left the lid off the toothpaste again' he told her with a sigh as he looked at her. He saw her body stiffen and she let go of his hand

'S..s…sorry' she seemed to struggle to get the words out 'I didn't mean to' she told him shaking her head 'I'll remember to put it back on. I promise' she told him. Joey frowned at her reaction, she seemed to suddenly be nervous

'It's okay no big deal' he said to her 'I'm sure there are things that I do that you don't like' he said to her

She swallowed and shook her head 'No' she told him softly

'Babe are you okay?' he asked her

'Just tired' Lauren said softly 'That's all. I think I'm going to go to bed'

'Okay' Joey nodded 'I'll be there in a minute'

Lauren nodded and seemed to force a smile onto her face.

She left the room and climbed into the bed and she waited for Joey, she heard the bathroom light turn off and then the bed dip as Joey got in behind her, he could feel the tension rolling off her in waves. Lauren held her breath as Joey slid his arms around her, pulling her gently back against him, his lips nuzzled her neck softly

'I love you' Joey whispered 'Sweet dreams baby'

'I love you' she said quietly, eventually he felt her relax against him and she covered his hands with hers with a sigh.

*END OF FLASHBACK*

Joey sighed and he got up and he walked to the bathroom and then walked around the cabin, his legs were stiff and he needed to get the blood circulating again. Lauren was watching TV. She glanced up at Joey as he walked back to her and she took her ear phone out.

'Are you okay?' she asked him

'Yeah my legs were stiff' he nodded 'Are you enjoying your documentary?'

'It's finished now but it was good' she nodded and she smiled at him 'You now have my undivided attention again'

'Good' Joey smiled at her 'Because I was thinking about where we were going to live when we get home'

Lauren blinked at him 'I thought that we were going back to yours' Lauren frowned at him

'I just wasn't sure if you wanted to move into the house with me or if you wanted me to move into the flat with you' he said to her 'or if you wanted to look for a new place'

'I don't want to go back to the flat' she said shaking her head 'Just to pack up the rest of my things that's all and I love your house'

'So we're going to live at mine?'

'Yes' Lauren nodded 'We are'

Joey looked at her 'Good' he replied as he cupped her face in his hands and he moved forward and he kissed her.

**AN: Joey and Lauren are moving forward very quickly in their relationship, do you think they should take things slowly or do you think that they have wasted enough time? **

**Thanks for all your reviews**

**R&R as always **


	41. Chapter 41

*FLASHBACK*

When Joey woke the next morning Lauren's side of the bed was empty. He couldn't see her in the bedroom

'Babe?' he called out 'Lauren?' he called again when he got no answer. His heart pounded in his chest and he felt the way he did all those times before that he and Lauren had hooked up and he discovered that she was gone in the morning, or that she couldn't remember anything that had transpired between them.

He got out of bed and checked the bathroom but found that it was empty. Joey returned to the bedroom and he saw that the clothes Lauren had laid out on the chair had gone, as was her handbag, or what she was using for a handbag in Australia. He sighed and he went to take a shower and then he waited for Lauren to return.

Lauren let herself into the hotel room, carrying her purchases, she walked into the bedroom and Joey stood up and he looked furious with her.

'Where the hell have you been Lauren!' he snapped at her angrily, he instantly regretted his harsh tone because the beautiful smile fell from her face and the spark of fear that he had seen last night and a few times before returned.

'I… I'm sorry' she said softly

'I've been waiting for you for two hours! I had no idea where you were, I was worried that something had happened to you'

'I… I went out to get breakfast' she told him 'and then as I was walking back I saw a few things that I thought Oscar, Abi and Alice might like' she said and she swallowed nervously. She walked to the bed and he put the bags down, watching him warily out of the corner of her eye, 'I got eggs and bacon from that little café down the block and coffee and pastries' she said and she opened the bag and she pulled out one of the Styrofoam boxes of food and a coffee and she held them out to Joey, Joey took them from her and he put the on the bedside table and he reached to push her hair behind her ear, he saw her flinch and he dropped his hand with a frown.

'Did you think I was going to hit you?' he asked her

'No of course not' Lauren shook her 'Eat your breakfast before it gets even colder than it is now' she told him and she pulled out the second box and coffee and she climbed down onto the bed and crossed her legs she handed Joey a plastic fork and spoon.

They ate their breakfast in silence, Lauren took his empty box and coffee cup and put it back in the bag with hers and then carried it over to the bin and dropped it inside.

'Thank you for breakfast Lauren; that was really nice of you' Joey said softly

Lauren smiled at him 'You're welcome'

'Okay so you ready for the beach?' he asked her

'Yes' she nodded.

They walked to the beach and Joey watched as Lauren stripped down to her bikini. She saw him gazing at her and she frowned 'What? Is too revealing?' she asked him and she reached for her shorts and started to put them on.

'No. Stop! Lauren' he caught her hand in his and he pulled her to sit down 'Babe you're beautiful' he told her 'You can wear what you want to wear' he said softly and he licked his lips 'Talk to me'

'Talk about what?' she asked him and she lowered her gaze. Joey raised her chin with his fingers.

'About why every now and again you look at me and you look afraid. Why you flinched when I reached out to tuck your hair behind your ear as though you expected me to hit you. Why you were surprised that I didn't want to have breakfast before we had wake up sex…'

'Joey' she frowned trying to pull away from him

'Why you thought I wouldn't want to have sex after you gave me a blow job, which by the way was incredible or why you thought you needed to clean your teeth after you had given me a blow job…' he said and he looked at her 'Why you seem to be ….modest all the time. I mean you don't seem to be comfortable being naked around me, you're always wrapped in a towel or in a robe; you wear a t-shirt to bed… and I want to know why?' he asked her 'Why you never had food in the flat when Simon was away… Babe talk to me' he said softly.

Lauren licked her lips 'Can't we just enjoy the day on the beach?' she asked him

'No… I need to know Lauren' he told her softly 'you know that you can talk to me don't you?'

She nodded 'Yes I know' she told him and he let her face go

'So talk to me babe' she frowned and she looked down.

'I think I'm going to go for a swim' she told him softly and he watched her as she got up and sprinted to the water. She swam for an hour and then made her way back to where he was. She sat down and she looked at him 'I'm sorry' she told him 'it's not that I don't want to talk to you Joey I do. I just… I don't want you to think any differently about me'

'Why would I do that?' he asked her 'I know you better than anyone remember?'

'I know, but there's a lot that I never told you. About me and Simon. About our relationship' she said and she laughed bitterly 'If you could call it that' she frowned and she looked up at Joey. 'Do you remember that time that you, me, Claire and Simon went on holiday to Turkey?' she asked him

'Yeah I remember. You picked up a 48 hour bug and had to spend a couple of days in the hotel room' he said to her 'Simon said that you didn't want him to waste any of his holiday looking after you so he joined us on all the activities that we planned' Joey said

'Is that what he told you?' she asked him 'I never knew that' she said with a smile shaking her head

'What do you mean what he told us? You weren't sick?' he asked her with a frown

'No I wasn't sick' Lauren told him shaking her head

'What happened?' he asked her 'Why did you stay in the hotel room for 2 days straight?'

'Because Simon locked me in there' she replied 'He decided that he didn't like the bikini that I chose to wear that day, or the others that I brought with me' she said to him 'He didn't like the way that he looked at me or the way that we messed around in the pool the day before either. He told me that I had a boyfriend and that the only reason a girl wears skimpy bikinis is to attract someone else. He said that I shouldn't flirt with you the way that I did' she said 'He went through my cases and took out everything that he felt was unsuitable for me to wear and he told me that I wasn't allowed to leave the hotel room until I figured out a reason why I felt the urge to dress and act like a whore' she told him

'I didn't know' he told her softly 'I'm sorry Lauren, if I had known I would have insisted on coming up to the hotel room, but when he you text me to say….' he trailed off 'you didn't text me did you?' Lauren shook her head

'He took my phone away so I couldn't text you and get you to let me out of the hotel room' she said softly

'What else happened?' he asked her

'Nothing on holiday' she told him 'That was the only thing that happened in Turkey'

'What about when we got back home?' he asked her

'He did all the food shopping, I wasn't allowed to buy anything. He insisted that everything that we ate was healthy, we weren't allowed to eat takeaways or junk food' she told him. I wasn't even allowed to have alcohol in the house' she told him 'He used to hate it when I went to our family dinners at our parent's houses because then he knew that he couldn't control what I ate or drank. He used to be so pissed when I got home. And he hated me having meals with you too, because he knew that I would be eating burgers or takeaways' she said told him 'Sometimes he'd make me go a two day juice diet or a water diet as a punishment. Usually at weekends, if I wasn't seeing you'

Lauren sighed and she looked up at Joey, he had managed to keep his face neutral so she continued talking, but inside he was burning with rage.

Lauren licked her lips and she swallowed 'He used sex as a way to apologise when he…when he knew that he had gone too far' she said to him, Joey knew that she was missing something out but he didn't want to push her for more details, not when she was opening up to him. 'Sometimes, on rare occasions we'd the spend the weekend in bed, he'd always say that we would have wake up sex but that I had to earn it, usually by making him breakfast first and cleaning up the dishes afterwards, or cleaning the bathroom with a toothbrush' she shrugged. 'He wasn't always like that, I mean when we first met we used to have sex all time, well whenever we saw each other any way' she added with a sigh 'Then when he moved in, things changed' she told him with a frown. 'He said that sex was something special between two people. Not something that should happen every day' she said softly, she looked down at the sand and she drew patterns in the sand, she didn't speak for a long time and Joey waited patiently. He drank some water and then he held it out to her, she took it with a smile, taking a drink before handing it back to him. She took a deep breath and she looked up at him.

'What else?' Joey pushed her gently

'He could be fairly selfish….in bed' she told him 'Most of the time when we had sex it was just for him' she told Joey 'If I didn't you know…then it was my fault for being too uptight' she said 'Most of the time he would just want a blow job…after that he wouldn't touch me. He always made me clean my teeth afterwards' Lauren told him 'and he hated it if I walked around naked, he'd always make me cover up, even in bed, he didn't like me to be naked' she said and she paused and took a breath and let it out slowly 'He was the one who decided that we should have a baby. It wasn't even a topic of conversation. He just told me one day over breakfast. After we'd eaten he made me flush my birth my contraceptive pills down the toilet and we went to bed. The next morning I went to the doctors and I got the morning after pill just to be safe and refilled my prescription' she told him 'I didn't want to have a baby with him' she shook her head 'I didn't even want to have sex with him' she said and she looked down. 'He wanted me to move to Croydon with him but I refused, so he went anyway. He thought that given time I would come round to his way of thinking' she said to him 'that I would miss him. And I did' she told him 'I did miss him' she frowned 'It wasn't always bad Joey' she told him shaking her head 'we did have some good times.'

'Why did you stay with him?'

'He loved me' she replied simply 'He wanted me'

'He wanted to control you, he wanted to change you. He didn't love you. That's not love Lauren' Joey frowned at her 'I always knew that guy was a creep. I should have punched his lights out the first time you brought him to meet me' he trailed off and he cupped her face in his hands and pressed a firm hard kiss to her lips. 'I love you, but… I just need to be by myself for a while. I'm sorry' he told her and he got up and walked away before she could say anything else.

Lauren waited on the beach for him to return for over three hours. When he didn't she packed up their things and walked back to the hotel. She stripped off her clothes and stepped into the shower, the water mingled with her tears as they ran down her face.

To be continued…..

**AN: So now you know what else Simon did. **

**Where has Joey gone? **

**Will he be back?**

**Poor Lauren she's so upset she opened up to Joey and he took off. **

**How will things be between them when and if he comes back. **

**Thanks for all your reviews **

**Back soon **

**R&R as always **


	42. Chapter 42

Lauren wrapped herself in a towel and put another around her hair and she went into the bedroom. She was surprised to see Joey sitting on the bed. She stopped in the doorway and he looked up at her and he could see that her eyes were red and puffy and he knew that she had been crying. She looked at him before turning around and fleeing back into the bathroom.

Joey followed her 'Lauren I'm sorry' he said 'I wasn't angry at you….. I felt guilty because you were with him for 3 years and if I had plucked up the courage to tell you how I felt sooner then you wouldn't have been with him'

Lauren sighed and she turned round to look at him briefly before she towel dried her hair and ran a brush through it. He watched her walk out of the bathroom, he sighed and took a quick shower himself and Lauren felt the bed dip as he got into bed behind her.

'Talk to me' Joey asked her softly

'I did that already and you took off' she said softly

'I know and I am sorry…I tried to explain why' Joey said to her 'Lauren look at me please' she sighed heavily and then turned over in the bed, staring at the ceiling, Joey figured that would have to do. 'I want you to know that whatever you went through with your….when you with Simon that I understand why you didn't tell me. I would have done something stupid, guaranteed and that might have made things worse for you. I just… Promise me that from now on you and I will be 100% honest with each other the whole time' he asked her 'No matter what'

'I promise' she said softly and he turned her head to look at him, he watched as a tear ran over the bridge of her nose and fell onto the sheets below.

'Good. And I will promise you that I will spend every single day of forever telling you how beautiful you are, telling you how much I love you, how sexy you are in whatever you choose to wear, I wouldn't even complain if you choose to walk around naked' he said with a casual shrug 'You know if you wanted to' Lauren smiled and then giggled 'And I promise you that at least once a day that we will have sex just for fun and I promise you 100% satisfaction every single time' he told her

'Do I get my money back if I'm not satisfied?' she asked him straight faced.

'Never going to happen babe' he told her and he moved forward to kiss her.

'Promise?' she asked him as she wrapped her arms around his neck

'Every time' he whispered against her lips

*END OF FLASHBACK*

Lauren woke up briefly and she got up to go to the bathroom and returned to her seat. Joey was fast asleep beside her, she smiled and pulled the blanket up over him and pressed a soft kiss to his lips and then sank back into her seat.

*FLASHBACK*

Lauren and Joey had the best day ever. If you asked them both years from now what the best day of their holiday was they would both have said this one without hesitation.

The day had ended and Joey and Lauren were taking a moonlit stroll on the beach, hand in hand they walked along the length of the beach, the warm water washing over their bare feet every few seconds. Both of them were happier than they could ever remember being. Joey had told lauren that this was their last day in Sydney and that tomorrow they were going to be making their way up to the Great Barrier Reef where they would spend lazy days snorkelling along the reef and their nights making love in the perfect hotel he had booked for them, where they had their own private balcony with a hammock and a love swing. They walked a little ways away from the water, until there were no other people around, Lauren smiled and she turned to face Joey and she slid her hands over his chest, revelling in the feeling of his muscles jumping beneath her fingers, she moved her hands over his very defined shoulders and then around his neck and she drew him into a kiss, a kiss that left him wanting more, that promised more. She grinned at him

'You know what I have always wanted to do?' she asked him

'What?' he asked her grinning back at her

'Skinny dipping' she said and she threw her flip flops down on the sand

'Are you serious?' Joey asked her as he looked up and down the beach to see if there was anyone watching them. When he looked back at her he had taken off her sundress and had dropped that onto the floor too. She reached behind her and she undid her white bikini and that joined her dress, he licked his lips as she shimmied out of her bikini bottoms and stepped out of them 'Oh you are serious' he said

'I'll race you to the water' she said and she took off running, giggling as she did.

Joey let out a breath 'Oh my god she is so hot!' he muttered to himself as he hurriedly stripped off his own clothes. He raced after her into the water.

She dived under the water and surfaced a few feet away from him and then turned to watch him swimming after her, he reached her and he drew her into his arms and he moved forward to kiss her. She ducked his head under the water with a giggle. They frolicked and played in the water, every now and then Joey would catch her and they would share a soft gentle kiss and then she would either dunk him under the surface or he would dunk her and she would swim away from him. When he caught her again their kisses grew deeper, hungrier, she wrapped her legs around his waist and she started to manoeuvre them towards the shore, once they reached the land he dropped down to his knees gently and lay her back on the sand as he moved over her. Suddenly neither of them cared if there was anyone around, if anyone could see them. At that exact moment in time all they cared about was each other, all they could see, hear, feel and taste was each other.

'Are you happy baby?' he brushed his nose against hers

She shook her head 'No'

'No? Why?' he asked her a slight frown marring his perfect handsome features

'Because you're not making love to me' she whispered softly

His frown disappeared and was replaced with a smile 'Easily rectified' he said and he pressed into her delicious warmth, she closed her eyes as she felt him entering her, stretching her and filling her in a way that no one else ever had, that no one else could.

'Joey' she whispered happily as he began a slow, almost lazy pace 'I love you'

'I love you too Lauren' he murmured as he kissed her

The ebb and flow of the tide against the shoreline seemed to complement the motion of Joey's hips as he made love to Lauren on the sand beneath the moon and stars.

They talked, dozed and made love until the sun started to rise across the water. Joey retrieved their clothes and they reluctantly dressed, pausing every so often to softly kiss each other. Once dressed they sat on the sand, Lauren sitting in-between Joey's legs as they watched the sunrise together.

*END OF FLASHBACK*

**AN: Thank you for all your reviews glad that you all seemed to like Out Of The Blue. **

**Thank you all for reading and reviewing. **

**Back later…**

**Big thanks to Crazychick74 for her help and words were mine failed me. **

**Please R&R as always **


	43. Chapter 43

They waited for their suitcases for over an hour and once they had them, they made their way out of the airport. Joey hired a car and they put their cases in the boot.

'So are you ready to go home Lauren?' he asked her

'Is it wrong to say no?' she asked him

'No' he shook his head 'I wish we were still in Australia too' he told her as he wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her towards him, she wrapped her arms around his neck, her fingers teasing the hair on the nape of his neck. 'But we both knew that today would come when we would have to return home to the dreary weather of London'

Lauren looked up at the sky, it was sunny, and hot. Not as hot as Australia, but hot nonetheless.

'Yes the weather is awful. It's what 79 degrees?' she asked him 'How will we survive without the blistering heat?'

'Sarcasm is the lowest form of wit young lady' he told her 'Do not forget that you are not too old to go over my knee!' he teased her

'Promises, promises!' she teased him back and she stood up on tiptoes and she kissed him, the spark between them ignited and Joey moaned softly as she deepened the kiss, they both pulled apart as someone who walked passed them made a comment about them getting a room and Lauren blushed.

'We should go' Joey told her softly

'Yes' she nodded in agreement stealing another kiss and squeezing his ass as she walked passed him.

Joey drove them back towards Walford and Lauren gazed out of the window. Three months ago she had got on the plane feeling as though she had lost everything, that there was nothing left for her in Walford. She had lost her best friend, the man that she finally admitted that she loved, that she had been in love with for as long as she could remember. She had thought that he had married another. That he would spend his life with her, that he would have children with her. A son maybe that would look exactly like Joey, a mini Joey, she turned and she looked at Joey, he was concentrating on the road, she smiled and now 3 months later she had everything. She had just spent an amazing 90 days in Australia with the man that she loved, with a man that loved her, that loved her exactly the way that she was, he didn't want to change her, he didn't want to control her, he didn't get angry with her when she forgot to clean the bathroom after she had used it, or when she left the lid off the toothpaste. A man that didn't want her to live in fear of him, that didn't use sex as an apology after he had degraded and humiliated her, after he had hurt her.

She smiled as she remembered all the times that they had had sex, the times that they had made love, the times that he had spent hours worshipping her body, giving her endless orgasms. Joey wasn't selfish when it came to sex, not like Simon, who had told her on numerous occasions that if she didn't come before he did then that was just too bad and wasn't his fault.

No.

Joey was nothing like Simon.

Joey was a confident, tender, and generous lover. He could have her trembling with anticipation at one look, one touch, with a single kiss. She shivered as she thought about it. Joey saw the movement out of the corner of her eye and he looked at her

'Are you okay babe? Are you cold?' he asked her

'No I was just thinking' she told him and she smiled at him

'Oh?' he asked her 'Have you changed your mind about us?'

'No of course not' she said with a smile 'I was just thinking how much I love you' she told him

'I love you too babe' he replied smiling at her, he looked back at the road

'And I was thinking about sex' she said to him

Joey laughed 'All you think about is sex' he said 'you are such a nymphomaniac' he teased her

'If I am it's your fault' she replied with a grin 'you shouldn't be so good in bed'

'You're not too bad yourself' he smiled back at her.

They pulled up outside the house and Joey turned off the engine and he climbed out of the car and he walked to the boot and he unlocked it and started to take their cases out.

'Here babe. Unlock the door' he said, he fished the keys out of his pocket and held them out to her,

'Give me a couple of cases' she said, Joey gave her a couple of the light ones and she picked them up and carried them up the path 'Don't go inside though' he told her, Lauren frowned but she did as he asked, she put the cases to the left just inside the door and she turned back to see Joey coming up the path with a couple more cases, he put them near the ones Lauren had already put inside as she went to get the four more. Joey took them from her and put them in the house. She went back to check the boot and she shut it and Joey came back outside. He put his arm around her shoulders and she slid one around him squeezing his ass as she slid her hand into his back pocket.

He smiled and he licked his lips 'Well we're home now, I guess we should face the music Miss Branning' he told said softly.

'Ahem' Lauren raised her left hand to show him the ring that sat on her finger

'Oh I'm sorry Mrs Branning' he said and he smiled and he kissed her softly, and then he pulled back to look at her with a frown 'you know I had a lot to drink the night before I was severely hungover, I have absolutely no recollection of a very romantic wedding on the beach' he told her.

'Oh and I suppose you have no recollection of the wedding night either?' she asked him

'Do you mean the very erotic moonlit skinny dipping followed by making love under the stars on the beach all night and the very romantic sunrise that we saw?' he asked her, she nodded, he shook his head with a frown 'Nope nothing, it's a complete blank' he grinned at her.

Lauren slapped his ass 'You are so going to get a spanking Joseph Branning' she told him as she started to walk towards the house. She squealed when he caught her just as she was about to step into the house 'Promises, promises!' he teased her. Joey scooped her up into his arms. 'Joey! What are you doing?' she exclaimed

'I do believe that it's traditional for a new husband to carry his new wife over the threshold' he told her 'and I'm nothing if not traditional' he smiled at her 'Welcome home Mrs Branning'

'Thank you Mr Branning, it's good to be home' she told him softly, she stroked his face with her hand and pulled him into a deep sensual kiss 'Take me to bed' she whispered softly. Joey grinned and kicked the door shut with his foot and carried his wife up the stairs.

The End

**AN: Did you all see that coming? Lauren and Joey got married in Australia. **

**Thank you for all your reviews. I am so glad that you like Out Of The Blue. **

**And once again a very big thank you to Crazychick74 for all her help and her support. For assisting me with the direction of the story as well as letting me use some of her words when I got stuck. Thank you xx **

**As always R&R. **


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